Women in the "Heart of Darkness"

Women in the "Heart of Darkness”
Pages 405-414
Jeremy Hawthorn

1. Women stayed out of the man’s world:

In Heart of Darkness, the women illustrate the corrupted side of imperialism. Women, as seen through the role of the Intended, were kept closed off from knowing what their men did during their imperialistic adventures. The Intended represents sterile idealism because she is shut off from Kurtz’s role and lives a naiive life, hopeful that he will return to be with her. Likewise, when Marlowe finally meets the Intended and she asks what Kurtz’s last words were, Marlowe lies and says that his final words were her name. Marlowe’s lie demonstrates how men did not involve women in what happens in Africa. Marlowe chooses to lie to the Intended not really to protect her, but rather to just not tell her what happens because it is easier to leave her out of what happened with Kurtz.

2. Women represented the division of race and culture of the time:

The juxtaposition between the Intended and the African woman illustrates how race was viewed. While the Intended as seen as refined and sterile, the African woman is seen as a mystery, as part of the wilderness, and as passionate. Essentially, Hawthorn argues that women are separated into those who are devoted and pure and those who are sensual and passionate. Thus, women are dehumanized because of the separation between spirit and body and the inability for them to possess both. Likewise, the women accurately illustrate how middle-class European women acted at the time. Many, just like the Intended, only saw the good in their loved ones that traveled abroad and failed to recognize the darker sides. The culture of the time, as depicted through the women, resulted in a split between reality and idealism as well as a separation between truth and lies. This idea links back to the main idea that Hawthorne explores: women just stayed out of the man’s world.

3. Conrad uses extensive imagery related to women to demonstrate how ideas of good and bad cannot be easily nor compartmentally understood:

The black and white imagery is first used to contrast the blank spots of Africa on the map to the darkness that the place actually causes. The Intended is also first seen as pale and fair; however, she wears black at the end of the novel to mourn the loss of Kurtz. In addition, the Intended personifies life, even though she has an “odour of death” around her. Conrad’s contrasts and comparisons, that are evident through the imagery surrounding women, illustrate the complexity of the wilderness and the imperialistic lifestyle. While we first see the wilderness as being silent, open, and mysterious, we learn that the wilderness also brings a host of problems: greed and destruction, to name a few. The imagery surrounding the Intended shows that life is not just good nor bad; it is not simple.