Helene Demuth (1820-1890)
This morning, whilst reading on the subject of famous last words, I discovered that Karl Marx had little time for such death bed theatrics.
'Go on, get out!' he apparently barked to his housekeeper, who was pottering about his room in the hope of recording some memorable final statement: 'Last words are for fools trying to compensate for having said nothing of any significance in life!'
I have to say, I was shocked - not by Marx's attitude, but by the fact that he - a revolutionary socialist and author of a work calling for the establishment of a classless society - should employ a domestic servant.
Worse: it's alleged that his German housekeeper, Helene, [1] was impregnated by Marx and gave birth to an illegitimate son, in 1851, who was discreetly placed with a working-class foster family in London shortly afterwards [2].
If anything exposes the bourgeois hypocrisy (and the sexism) implicit within Marxism, it's this. As Elaine Benes might sarcastically note: There's nothing more revolutionary than calling for communism, then diddling the maid. [3]
Notes
[1] The daughter of parents belonging to the peasant class, Helene Demuth began her
life as a maid in 1840, aged 20, entering into the Marx household five
years later, where she stayed until Karl's death in 1883. Helene died
in London in 1890, and was buried in the Marx family grave (and later re-interred in the tomb of Karl Marx at Highgate Cemetery).
[2]
Some scholars accept that Marx was the father of the child; a
view based upon surviving correspondence from the Marx family and
their wider circle, as well as the fact that Marx's wife had been on a
trip abroad nine months prior to the birth. The child's paternity, however, remains a subject of controversy, and there is no conclusive documentary evidence as such to prove that Marx had been diddling the maid.
[3] In the season 9 episode of Seinfeld entitled 'The Maid' - dir. Andy Ackerman (1998) - Jerry forms a sexual relationship with his maid, Cindy (played by Angela Featherstone). Although he tries to convince Elaine that the arrangement is somewhat sophisticated, the latter is not convinced. Click here to watch the scene on YouTube.
To read an earlier post on the erotic fascination with maids in the pornographic imagination, click here.
