UNDERSTANDING MARXISM: Wendy Lynne Lee writes: “Marxism has remained largely true to its central objective, namely, to demonstrate the dehumanizing character of an economic system whose voracious quest for capital accumulation is inconsistent not only with virtually any vision of the good life, but with the necessary conditions of life itself.”

 

A Marxist analysis of Into the Woods might focus on the characters of Jack and Jack’s Mother and their changing economic situation. Initially, in scene 1, Jack’s Mother speaks of their lack of finances, “[Milky-White]’s been dry for a week. We’ve no food nor money and no choice but to sell her while she can still command a price.” The family’s will for financial resources propels Jack to begin his journey to sell Milky-White. (It is his will for a friend, for companionship, that propels him to buy the cow back.) The beginning of the second act depicts Jack and his mother in the same cottage, “now dramatically improved,” this time with “Milky-White and the golden harp.” This may be interpreted as Jack’s family changing economic classes from the proletariat to the bourgeoisie. Perhaps, one may evaluate this change as ethical, because Jack and his mother’s fortunes have come from a magical source, not earned from taking the wages of laborers. (Of course, referring back to IV. Literary Analysis → Critical Theories & Readings → Post-Colonialism, one may interpret this as a colonial act, taking from the native populations of the “kingdom up in the sky.”) Jack’s desire in the second act is for the thrill of that “kingdom”, suggesting that the heights of adolescent passion and excitement bring more satisfaction than material comforts.