Conrad: A Destroyer Or Defender Of Masculinist Mythology

By analyzing and commenting on a few of female characters in Heart of Darkness in the light of feminist criticism, as well as the historical-biographical considerations and writing style, this paper tends to prove that Joseph Conrad speaks to women, of women, through Heart of Darkness, at the deepest level. Conrad was one of the four major figures exemplifying The Great Tradition in the history of the Fnglish novels. His women images, however, have been either overlooked by androcentric critics or somewhat misinterpreted by a number of feminist critics. Conrad was accordingly approached as misogynist or sexist in the literary canon. This essay endeavors to demonstrate that Conrad actually is very much concerned about the issue of gender, particularly in Heart of Darkness.The thesis consists of five chapters. The Introduction presents a brief background concerning Conrad, Heart of Darkness, and the motivation of the thesis. The literature review reiterates some researches of Heart of Darkness in the light of androcentric and feminist points of view. The second chapter analyzes the harmonious relationship between Conrad and the women in his life and proposes that Conrad's identification with the female sex in his life offers a starting point for a critical re-evaluation. Additionally, the feminist movement has great influence on Conrad and his writing. The following chapter mainly focuses on five women images in Heart of Darkness. Conrad represents domesticated women's predicament in the patriarchal society in Heart of Darkness, attempting to criticize the unreasonableness of themale-dominated society. Furthermore, the representation of independent and self-reliant women disapproves that Conrad's female characters are mere objects defined by men. In Heart of Darkness, the image of African woman transcends stereotypical images of women in multi-dimensions and offers an image of new woman. Not only are women the symbolic representatives of anticipating the perdition of the patriarchal imperialism but also Marlow serves as a gravedigger, who is responsible for making full preparation for the death of the patriarchal imperialism-Conrad implies that Marlow becomes part of the conspiracy of doorkeepers to overthrow the masculine imperialistic civilization. The fourth chapter focuses on Conrad's writing style in Heart of Darkness. His unconscious l'ecriture feminine style not only reflects the incredibility of male narration in the novel but also provides an effective method to undermine the discourse of the male-dominated society. The conclusion illustrates that Conrad, denouncing in Heart of Darkness the Victorian patriarchal system imposed on women, is a destroyer of the masculine mythology.