ALIENATION, LABOUR AND AGE: A MARXIST STUDY OF W.B. YEATS’ THE SONG OF THE OLD MOTHER

Abstract

The study employs a Marxist analysis to highlight the themes of alienation, labor, and age in W.B. Yeats' poem, The Song of the Old Mother, as it portrays a working-class lady. While Yeats is not often regarded as a Marxist author, this study shows that his portrayal of the old mother critiques capitalist ideologies, primarily by emphasizing the exploitation of labor and the marginalization of older women in society. This study analyzes the poem via a detailed reading and the application of ideas from Karl Marx, Terry Eagleton, Raymond Williams, and Silvia Federici, revealing its connection to the economic and social transformations in early 20th-century Ireland. The adept use of imagery, diction, and structure by the elderly mother illustrates her estrangement from her former occupation and community, as well as her comprehension of her position in the world, exemplifying the neglect of aged workers in the contemporary economy. This chapter contributes to Yeats' scholarship by analyzing his early poems through a materialist lens and proposes a novel examination of his works on class, labor, and ideology.