German philosopher, Karl Marx transformed the way people analyze literary works. He stated that the behavior and judgment of people in society are determined by economic factors. Typical readers analyze literature from the text in which it is presented, rather than analyzing further meaning. The critical Marxist lens encourages the reader to pay attention to the details within the text, particularly the systems of social power within the plot. Social class is based on the positions people occupy in society, the dispositions of certain groups and the hierarchical system can greatly alter the outcome of a story. Reading the text with a Marxist lens requires the reader to focus on how the characters interact with their environment and the people around them. The different classes, persecution, social inequality, racism are aspects to keep an eye on when doing a Marxist reading. The goals of a Marxist literary critic include evaluating the social trends of the literary work and comparing it to the social trends of today and the specific time period in which it was written. The analyst must also recognize what social class the author belongs to and how this might influence the portrayal of certain characters. By analyzing Shakespeare's most important play, Hamlet Prince of Denmark, the reader will have to understand the hierarchical system, the relationships between the characters, the different classes and their social acceptances, as well as the struggle for political power in Denmark and the beliefs Shakespeare's personal social. These interactions between social classes are what drive the conflicts and events in the show. In the first act of the show the representation of social classes begins to take place. Shakespeare... half of the sheet... for the speech Hamlet makes about his old family jester Yorik. During that speech Hamlet begins to question the social class system and the results it produces. He begins by wondering how people with so much power and influence in the world end up in a hole under the ground. “Is it not possible to imagine that the noble ashes of Alexander the Great could end up plugging a hole in a barrel? " (V, 1.179). He mentions the names of people at the top of the hierarchical system such as Caesar and Alexander the Great. He wonders why the people who once ruled and conquered the world end up in ashes on the earth? “Oh, if that land, which held the world in awe, patched a wall to expel the defect of winter! But slowly, but slowly a little" (V,1, 195). we separate into classes, when after death we are subject to the same fate.