The Condition of the Working Class in England · Chapter
To the Working-Classes of Great-Britain explained
Friedrich Engels dedicates his work to the working classes of Great Britain, expressing his commitment to understanding their condition through direct observation and interaction.
What happens
Friedrich Engels dedicates his work to the working classes of Great Britain, expressing his commitment to understanding their condition through direct observation and interaction. He criticizes the middle classes for their hypocrisy and self-interest, and praises the workers for their internationalism and humanity, urging them to continue their struggle for progress.
Themes in this chapter
Class Conflict
Engels explicitly outlines the opposition between the working class and the middle class, whose interests are diametrically opposed.
Bourgeois Hypocrisy and Philanthropy
Engels accuses the middle classes of professing goodwill while actually exploiting workers for profit and ignoring their grievances.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The author, Friedrich Engels, speaks directly to the working classes, dedicating his work and sharing his experiences.
- The English
Referred to as the working men of Great Britain, the intended audience of the dedication.
- The Masters
The middle-classes are described as the opponents of the workers, whose interests are diametrically opposed.
Key passages
“I forsook the company and the dinner-parties, the port-wine and champagne of the middle-classes, and devoted my leisure-hours almost exclusively to the intercourse with plain Workingmen”
I abandoned the luxurious social events of the wealthy and spent my free time with ordinary workers.
Engels emphasizes his choice to engage directly with workers rather than the middle class.
“the middle-classes intend in reality nothing else but to enrich themselves by your labour while they can sell its produce, and to abandon you to starvation as soon as they cannot make a profit by this indirect trade in human flesh.”
The middle classes only want to profit from your work and will leave you to starve when they can no longer make money from it.
Engels accuses the middle class of exploiting workers for profit and discarding them when they are no longer useful.