The Yorke Manifesto: A Marxist Interpretation of Mr. Yorke in Charlotte Bronte's "Shirley"

Editor's Note: Here's an essay I wrote on Charlotte Bronte's industrial novel Shirley.Shirley character Mr. Yorke provides a rich amount of material to analyze through Marxist criticism as Yorke raises many of the questions posed by Marxists during the Industrial Revolution including criticism of the upper class, the military, and clergy. While Marxism was in its infancy during the time Shirley was published, I shall show how Yorke shares Marxist views, despite his status as a landowner. None...