How did Marx describe the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat?

In Marxist theory, the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is defined by fundamental conflict and exploitation within the capitalist system. Marx viewed this relationship as the central driver of social evolution, characterizing it as a struggle between the owners of the means of production and the workers who create economic value.123

Key aspects of this relationship include:

• Exploitation: Marx argued that the bourgeoisie maintains its wealth by siphoning off surplus value—the difference between the value workers create and the wages they are paid—as profit.3
• Alienation: The capitalist structure estranges workers from the products of their labor, the production process itself, their own creative potential, and one another, as they are forced to compete for wages.3
• Class Antagonism: This dynamic creates "contradictions" that Marx believed would inevitably lead to a revolution. He famously described the bourgeoisie as producing its own "grave-diggers," predicting that the proletariat would eventually overthrow the ruling class to establish a society free of class distinctions.312