He had resorted in going through underhanded methods or in his words by “hook or crook” in which he was left empty handed. Marlow had gone through all the regular channels in order to find a job. Marlow might use his aunt to get himself a job, but he is clearly uncomfortable with the idea of having to rely on women for something so important. I, Charlie Marlow, set the women to work – to get a job. Then – would you believe it? – I tried the women. The men said ‘My dear fellow,’ and did nothing.

I felt somehow I must get by hook or crook. Marlow was having difficulty finding a job, so he asked his auntto help him out: He was in a desperate search for a job in the Congo, due to his fascination of the area ever since he was a child. They are portrayed as lower beings in comparison to men, and Conrad implies that through a misogynistic portrayal of Charlie Marlow’s aunt and in Kurtz’s Intended.Įarly in the first chapter of Heart of Darkness, Marlow is reciting a tale of how he started his journey in the Congo. Upper class women within this novella are portrayed, in the few moments that they are even present, as naïve and completely ignorant of the world in which the men are living in. Within Heart of Darkness Conrad uses three different social classes of women to show the indirect relationship between a woman’s class, power and understanding of reality. There are few instances of women within his tale, but they each show a portrait of what Conrad believes to be a woman’s role in society. It is a story of a man, Charlie Marlow, traveling up the Congo River encountering and traveling with other men along the way to meet another man named Kurtz who is the chief of an inner station in the Congo.

The novella is a tale that is mainly centered around men. The novella Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad, and set in the late nineteenth century, displays Conrad’s interesting perspective on the role that women hold in society. Textual Analysis Assignment: Women within Heart of Darkness

Women in heart of darkness