The Color of Class: The Color Purple through a Marxist Feminist Lens

Abstract

The paper revolves around the interplay of gender, race and sexuality under the canopy of Capitalism in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. By evoking Walker’s subtle exploration of the nexus between patriarchy, race and capitalism, the paper aims to dwell on these complementary forces that operate elliptically, furthering and constructing the concentric circles of Marxism and Feminism. In addition, the analysis extends the Marxist (feminist) notion of simply instituting a relationship between women’s uncompensated labor with GDP computation to a more nuanced study of hetero-patriarchal structures of hegemony. Furthermore, the paper looks at the visual dimensions, the color of the exquisite purple flowers that Shug describes to Celie, blossom all through in Spielberg’s 1985 adaptation of the movie, justifying the title not only for the characters but for the onlookers alike.