Depiction of Women in Heart of darkness
...g thankful enough to his aunt for getting him the job. In fact, he actually seems to be ashamed to have relied upon her. However, any respect the aunt deserves is immediately undone by her apparent ignorance. In the name of a “noble cause” (that is, colonizing the “savages”), she sees her nephew as an “emissary of light”. Even Marlow will admit that this is not true. He is drawn to the Congo by his sense of adventure, and not by a moral and romantic duty, to tame the land and its inhabitant. Marlow is right to describe his aunt as “out of touch” with the truth, for she really appears to have no idea what really goes on in the Congo, where “colonizing the savages” actually amounts to enslaving the native people in the relentless thirst to accumulate ivory. Indeed, the aunt absurdly reminds Marlow to “wear flannel” before he sets off into the oppressive heat of the jungle. Is this silly woman really deserving of Marlow’s undying gratitude? His disregard is more a product of his well-founded disdain for her lack of understanding. Conversely, to Marlow’s treatment of his aunt, the next woman who appears is described in glowing terms as “savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent”. To Marlow, this strong native woman represents the beauty of the wild jungle which he respects. Just as the jungle is, she herself was also “invaded” by a white man, for she is Kurtz‘s mistress. Ö She is a passionate woman, vibrant, strong and vital. She alone is not afraid when the steam boat sounds its whistle, and stands proudly at the river bank in the face of danger. By his description of her, Marlow appears to be awestruck, and as attracted to this apparition as he is to the dark mysterious jungle. In fact, contrasting to his views of the dithering aunt, his accounts of this woman ring with admiration for her wild, savage beauty and strength-hardly the view of a man who categorizes women as weak or inferior .good point The final woman in the story, Kurtz’s fiancée, is arguably the most influential woman in the text. Known only as “The Intended“, this young woman unwaveringly believes in her husbands fiance’s character and behaviours as moral and right. After coming to know her, Marlow decides that the truth about Kurtz’s descent would be “too dark” for her to take, for this is a woman who lives honouring Kurtz’s death. She is expected to adhere to society’s expectations, behave decently, quietly and endlessly mourn her fiancé. Marlow justifies lying to the Intended because he wants to assist in this “great and saving illusion” Though lying embodies everything Marlow despises about humanity, he consciously decides to do so in order to preserve society for the Intended. She is the embodiment of man’s denial of the truth of inner evil. She is innocent, a “halo”, and would not understand that her beloved Kurtz is a manifestation of raw human evil. In his (perhaps misplaced) chivalry, Marlow has decided that the Intended cannot possibly comprehend this. Her fiancé was a murderer- a savage himself, decapitating the natives. This man was corrupted by unadulterated freedom whichthat , Marlow believes, his fiancée could not possibly comprehend. Overall, Marlow speaks kindly of women, and wishes to protect them from harm. Granted he does, however, ide...