The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman

Throughout the play The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman, the influence of Marxism is commonly displayed. The Hubbard’s are portrayed as constantly going against the social conforms that would be set in a Marxist society. They each pursue wealth or a social status. For what they covet, they go above and beyond to obtain. In the process they hurt other people. They each sacrifice their integrity to gain this wealth and status.

Hellman’s title highlights the opposition of Marxism that is portrayed in the play. The title of the play comes from the bible. In that portion referred to it states that the foxes, which are represented by the Hubbard’s, will destroy the glory of the new south because their greed for power is so great. (Watson 173). The Hubbard’s all destroy each other for money. They want to build a cotton factory where costs are cheep and they make a lot of profit. However, to achieve this they have to step on many people toes and exploit workers (Hellman 159).

Regina’s determination to gain wealth was unwavering. She let her husband die because he was not going to report her brothers for stealing his bonds. Regina then turns on her brothers and demands a greater percentage of the money since she can destroy them because they stole Horace’s bonds. To Regina, money means freedom to escape and go to the south where social standing is measured by the cloths and jewelry you have. This is against Marxist society because Marxists believe that everyone should be equal in money and standing (Hamilton 172). Regina wants to go to Chicago and Paris but in the process she lets her husband die and looses the love of Alexandra (Galens 165). She now has the option to have the bright, flamboyant social life she wanted but she can only have it alone now.

Ben Hubbard has cheated and manipulated to gain his wealth. In the play Regina states that Ben has cheated so many men to get where he is now that his reputation is ruined around the area. Ben has no need for money; he ultimately wants to remain childless and wifeless. Thus, his desire for money is solely for a capitalist purpose. He is only interested in build his empire (Hamilton 172). To build his empire he needs to land a deal with Marshall. To do so he tries to make a big point of how much better his father rules Birdy’s family’s plantation and the differences between old southern aristocracy and new one.