The Role of Women in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay -- Joseph

The Role of Wo manpower in Joseph Conrads Heart of DarknessWomen halt taken an increasingly important role in literature. Only late have authors envisioned women in a dominant, protagonistic light. Sophocles and other classical writers portrayed women more than as reactors than heroines. Since the ancient Greeks, however, a trend has been established that gives women characters overmuch more substance and purpose. A definite shift from the antediluvian shipway can be seen, and the overall complexity of women characters has increased exponentially. In Conrad?s Heart of Darkness, however, the portrayal of women takes a backwards step and is reverted back to the primitive, more demeaning viewpoint. Conrad employs characters that reflect the archaic perspectives concerning women. The main character, Marlow, generalizes all women and depicts every fair sex as living in a dream-like state merely ? dismission through the motions? of life.In his descriptions of the various wom en characters, Marlow either implies or directly states that women argon not mentally equipped to survive in society, and can sole(prenominal) function in a dream-like state. He also conveys that it is the responsibility of men to save women and preserve their navet. This point of view is reflected often, and stems from his English upbringing and the British society of the day. Marlow speaks utilizing many lewd words and racial slurs. Many of the Victorian ideals still remain within English culture, and this delicacy towards women is a prime example of the fragmented set of beliefs. Nevertheless, Marlow views women as asinine pawns, his stance is evident when he goes to speak with the intend. While speaking with Marlow, the Intended praises Kurtz and speaks of his many goo... ...viewed as mere symbols and not real characters. There be no quoted in the entire story where a woman says something intelligent, meaningful, or important. Conrad only used the women in the stor y as symbols for his thematic metaphors. The women equal large facets of society or nature, but were not given much personality on individualism. By the end of the story, the reader knows a ugly amount of information about Marlow and Kurtz, and Conrad?s novel could be called a case study for either of them. No new information is know about the psyche or inter-workings of the women of Heart of Darkness and even though the females in the story represent vast societies, their personal anonymity could drop dead the reader empty and searching for substance. BibliographyConrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York Dover, 1990.