Materialistic Interest in The Bedbug by Vladimir Mayakovsky

Abstract

The play entitled The Bedbug is one of the most imaginative political satires on the Soviet Union in the twentieth century which was written by one of the greatest Russian poets, Vladimir Mayakovsky in 1929. The primary purpose of this study is to analyze the play in terms of Marxism’s Materialistic Aspects. This article intends to show the economic positions and influence of materialistic interests of the characters in general, and the protagonist of the play, Prisypkin, in particular. It shows how Prisypkin behaves like the upper classes, and it also explains the reasons behind the character’s change. Moreover, the paper demonstrates the reasons why Mayakovsky portrayed him like that. In conclusion, Mayakovsky criticizes all the self-interest proletariat class through Prisypkin, he also indirectly criticizes the Soviet Union leaders.

Keywords

• marxism
• social classes
• economic position
• proletariat
• bourgeoisie
• opportunist