▁Marx ▁himself ▁never ▁simply ▁equ ated ▁capital ists ▁with ▁their ▁character ▁mask s ; ▁they ▁were ▁human ▁be ings ▁ent ang led ▁in ▁a ▁certain ▁life ▁pred ic ament , ▁like ▁anybody ▁else . ▁Capital ists ▁became ▁the ▁" person ification " ▁of ▁their ▁capital , ▁because ▁they ▁had ▁money ▁which ▁was ▁perman ently ▁inv ested ▁somewhere , ▁and ▁which ▁necessarily ▁had ▁to ▁obtain ▁a ▁certain ▁yield . ▁At ▁most ▁one ▁could ▁say ▁that ▁capital ists ▁had ▁more ▁to ▁hide , ▁and ▁that ▁some ▁had ▁personal ▁qual ities ▁en abling ▁them ▁to ▁succeed ▁in ▁their ▁function , ▁while ▁others ▁lack ed ▁the ▁personal ▁pr ere quis ites . ▁According ▁to ▁L uk á cs , ▁the ▁character ▁mask s ▁of ▁the ▁b our ge ois ie ▁express ▁a ▁" necess ary ▁false ▁conscious ness " ▁about ▁the ▁class ▁conscious ness ▁of ▁the ▁pro let ariat . ▁ ▁Post - war ▁Western ▁Marx ism ▁In ▁the ▁post - war ▁tradition ▁of ▁Western ▁Marx ism , ▁the ▁concept ▁of ▁character ▁mask s ▁was ▁the or ized ▁about ▁especially ▁by ▁sch ol ars ▁of ▁the ▁Frankfurt ▁School , ▁and ▁other ▁Marx ists ▁influenced ▁by ▁this ▁school . ▁Most ▁of ▁the ▁Frankfurt ▁the or ists ▁believed ▁in ▁Fre ud ' s ▁basic ▁model ▁of ▁human ▁nature . ▁Er ich ▁From m ▁expanded ▁it ▁by ▁developing ▁the ▁social - ps ych ological ▁concept ▁of ▁" social ▁character ". ▁It ▁also ▁appears ▁in ▁Marx ist - exist ential ist ▁thought , ▁such ▁as ▁in ▁the ▁writ ings ▁of ▁Jean