The Marxist idea of the
economic base relates directly to the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat,
the oppressor and the oppressed. John is a professor at a university where he is influenced by
his respected position as an author and a potential tenure recipient. Carole is
a current student at the same university but her position is lower in the
institution giving her less power and oppressing her overall academics.
As Karl Marx puts it in his Manifesto of the Communist Party “the
oppressor and oppressed stood in constant opposition, carried on in an open
fight." The professor in this case is in the role of the bourgeoisie and the
student is in the role of the proletariat. In the beginning of the play Carole
continuously states that she doesn’t understand what John is lecturing about.
John has put himself into a dominating position because he is receiving a
paycheck for his works while ultimately Carole and students like her are paying
his salary. Money is what makes the university run therefore, if John is
helping to bring in the money he has a direct relation with the economic base
and is important to the super structure as a whole.
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