False Consciousness in Selected Stories of Chekhov and Maupassant

Abstract

This research on selected stories of Chekhov and Maupassant is conducted to excavate the false consciousness among the working class people during 1880s which has been preventing the revolution against the capitalism. The awareness among these people about their economic condition is mandatory in the revolution. However, the working people are blinded by false consciousness and they have accepted the rule of capitalism. The strategy of capitalism is to obstruct the revolution that has succeeded through ideology and commodity fetishism.

In “The Lottery Ticket” by Chekhov, Ivan Dmitritch and Masha show an excessive desire to materialism which is a strategy created by capitalist society to obstruct the revolution. Similarly, police superintendent Otchumyelov and red-headed policeman in the story “A Chameleon” are unaware about the exploitation of capitalist and work as their managers to frighten the poor people in the market. Likewise, the young lawyer in “The Bet” refuses the two million money of his bet and disappears to live an austere life without contributing his intelligence and effort to unite working people to revolt against the capitalism. Finally, Monsieur and Madame Loisel spend their whole life to pay off the debt that they have taken to buy another necklace to replace the lost one due to extreme desire of Madame Loisel to spread her beauty through commodity. Anti-capitalist theory has been applied in this research. Karl Marx, George Luckas, Louis Pierre Althusser, Raymond Williams and Terry Eagleton are theorists who have written against capitalism, and their theories are applied in this research. As a whole, this research studies the selected stories of Chekhov and Maupassant and examines them through anti-capitalist perspective.