The Significance of Women in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899)

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leggings to the knee, brass wire gauntlets to the elbow, a crimson spot on her tawny cheek, innumerable necklaces of glass beads on her neck...She must have had the value of several elephant tusks upon her. (75-76)

In other words, Kurtz’s African mistress is not only the role of a person but the personification of Africa, as it is dark and mysterious. Additionally, Marlow’s description of her supports this idea because the mistress is dark and savage, but also “gorgeous,” embodying all the beauty, mystery, and danger of Africa. Further, she seems to exert an undue influence over the natives around the station. Marlow explains “there was something ominous and stately in her deliberate progress…the colossal body of the fecund and mysterious life seemed to look at her, pensive, as though it had been looking at the image of its own tenebrous and passionate soul” (76). In addition to having power over the natives, she also has power over Kurtz. For example, the Russian sailor tells Marlow how “she got in one day and kicked up a row about [how] I wasn’t decent. At least it must have been that, for she talked like a fury to Kurtz for an hour...I fancy Kurtz felt too ill that day to care, or there would have been mischief” (76). From this textual evidence, it is clear that the African mistress is the one who wears the pants in her and Kurtz’s relationship, as Kurtz did not stand up to her. Further analyzing this topic, this can be seen as the Congo slowly gaining the “upper hand.” As Africa lures men full of lusts, she has her way with them, as revenge for the colonization. This portrays Africa like a siren, luring men to their deaths with her sweet songs, with her awe-inspiring terror and savagery, despite all the damage and abuse inflicted upon by the Europeans.

Moreover, the last significant woman in Heart of Darkness is the Intended. The Intended was Kurtz’s fiancee who waited in Belgium while Kurtz was in the Congo gathering ivory. Marlow visits her more than a year after Kurtz’s death and notices she is still in mourning. Marlow describes their encounter by stating that “She had a mature capacity for fidelity, for belief, for suffering...all in black with a pale head, floating towards me in the dusk...This fair hair, this pale visage, this pure brow, seemed surrounded by an ashy halo from which the dark eyes looked at me” (92). Furthermore, if the African mistress is the personification of Africa, then the Intended is the personification of colonization. For example, she is utterly infatuated with Kurtz and believes herself the single most definitive authority on his character: "I am proud to know I understood him better than any one on earth" (93). This textual evidence shows how the Intended is like many Europeans; they believe in the greatness of men like Kurtz without knowing the dark and hidden parts of their characters. Additionally, when Kurtz died, his last words were “The horror! The horror!” (86). This is represented as the idea of colonization dying. Since the Intended asked what his last words were, and Marlow told her Kurtz said her name. He did this not only to spare her feelings, but he was also telling the truth, that the dream of colonization is dead.

Women in Heart of Darkness, even outwardly powerful ones, are sidelined by society and Marlow. He believes women should be shielded from knowledge of the real world, and how they want the illusion, and the ivory—not the reality of African slaves worked to death. However, after reading the novella and analyzing the text, it is clearly seen that they are far from being powerless. They display and represent significant amounts of power and influence in the Congo and in westernized Europe. Whether aiding Marlow to reconsider the social norms of Europe’s society, or explaining the elements of jungle, women brought light to the dark truths within this novella.