Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad And The Portrayal Of Women

Lucia Zhu Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and the Portrayal of Women Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness is an adventure tale about the narrator’s journey through the mysterious Congo River. Marlow, the narrator, becomes a sea captain as he travels the world in a steamboat. His journey starts from the Thames River in England to deep in the Congo River of Africa. Marlow’s mission is to locate and retrieve Europe’s best agent–Mr. Kurtz. As the search for Kurtz proves to be both horrifying and revealing, it brings Marlow face to face with the â€Å"heart of darkness†. As Marlow unfolds Africa’s mystery, he sees more and more of Africa being wrongfully exploited. Within the complex framework of Marlow’s physical and mental journey, Joseph Conrad takes a complex stance on the nature of women so that they are seen as weak and separated from the men of the novella. In his tale, Conrad is oblivious to gender discrimination. Marlow, the protagonist of Heart of Darkness, unconsciously surrenders to t he inequality of his era regarding the decency of women. Throughout the novella, the female characters in the text reveals Conrad’s separation of women to their own bubble of a world, only to sometimes reveal the power they hold. Conrad’s sexism is first recognized through diction of the portrayal of Marlow’s aunt. As Marlow looks for a job, his male family members are hesitant to help because they are aware of the dangers in Africa. Marlow’s aunt, on the other hand, is very willingShow MoreRelated The Role of Women in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay969 Words   |  4 PagesThe Role of Women in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Women have taken an increasingly important role in literature. Only recently have authors portrayed women in a dominant, protagonistic light. Sophocles and other classical writers portrayed women more as reactors than heroines. 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