The Condition of the Working Class in England Literary Elements

Political Philosophy

England, middle 1800s, after the Industrial Revolution

Engels is the narrator, putting forward his own ideas and philosophies about the effects of urbanization and industrialization. Although the book is from his point of view he would also claim to be representing the point of view of the working class.

Extremely depressing, negative and pessimistic, as well as rabble-rousing and exploitative of the general discontent.

The working-class people are the protagonists, the business owners the antagonists.

Engels works to generate conflict between the working class and those who own the factories and mills in which they are working by pointing out the exploitation that is going on.

There is no specific climax in the traditional sense of the word, however, the climax of Engels' philosophizing is to conclude that the discontented working classes must rise up and change their situation themselves by refusing to work under the conditions currently imposed upon them.

Engels postulates that the movement to the urban environments from the countryside, where the air is more polluted and living conditions far more disease-ridden, foreshadows the fact that the working classes in the urban areas will not live as long as their historical counterparts who lived in the countryside.

The urban environment is described as not having very good air which is an understatement because the air would be thick and black with pollutants from the newly industrial landscape,

Engels alludes to the findings in a number of historical documents, particularly the census, to show that the life expectancy of the working class in urban areas is lower than their historical counterparts in countryside areas.

The images painted for the reader are of horrible conditions and a polluted atmosphere; for this reason we are able to picture visually a blackened sky and darker colors.

Industrialization was intended to lead to progress but Engels argues that the paradox of this is that it leads to retrograde movement for the working class.

There is a parallel between the rate at which the working class move to urban environments and the rate at which their life expectancy begins to decline.

The "working class" is the term used to encapsulate all of the poor and uneducated workers who work for the industry owners,

no specific examples