A Marxist reading of "The Unknown Citizen"

Abstract EN

This paper aims to analyze Wystan Hugh Auden’s early poetry.

The paper examines "The Unknown Citizen" and gives a Marxist reading of it.

The paper is dedicated to covering the background of the poem.

Also, it aims to shed the lights on Antonio Francesco Gramsci’s concept of Cultural Hegemony and some of Marx’s concepts; base, superstructure, false consciousness.

In addition, the paper argues Terry Eagleton’s concept of Literary Commitment.

The objective of this analysis is to apply the previous concepts on Auden’s “The Unknown Citizen” in order to give a full reading of Marxism in the poem.