My research paper is entitled, Analyzing Heart of Darkness...

My research paper is entitled, Analyzing Heart of Darkness through a Feminist Lens. Through this paper, I will investigate and examine Heart of Darkness by means of Feminist Criticism and literary theory. I aspire to thoroughly analyze the entire narrative, in order to pull out and pinpoint various aspects and examples linked to feminist theory. I want to investigate and spotlight specific occurrences, in the novel, where characteristics of Feminist Criticism can be found or applied. I specifically want to look at the tree women characters introduced in the text; â€Å"The Intended† â€Å"The Mistress† and Marlow’s aunt. I also want to prove that Heart of Darkness is a text that openly conflicts with the basis of feminism. To begin this paper, I†¦show more content†¦In Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, Marlow’s mindset towards women represents the rather widespread viewpoint of the 19th century. Men during this time viewed women as insignificant and inferior. Perhaps that is why there are only three female characters in Heart of Darkness: Kurtz’s mistress, Kurtz’s Intended, and Marlow’s aunt. Marlow references these women with the intention of giving the narrative more gist. Though they certainly perform particular functions in the story, these women don’t really correlate with the main premise of the tale. The main theme of the story centers on how Marlow’s voyage into the Congo leads him to self-discovery. The journey helps to mold and shape his beliefs in humanity and causes him to question morality. At the outset of Marlow’s narrative he expresses how he, Charlie Marlow, set the women to work to get a job. Marlow communicates this in the perspective that he was so determined to adventure into the trade commerce that he did what was unconceivable in the time period: he asked a woman for money. The lady, his aunt, seems to surpass the customary role of women during the time period. She tells Marlow that she is overjoyed to aid him in his endeavors. She even instructs him to ask her for help whenever he desires it. This occurrence does not play too much of a role in the overall premise of the tale; it merely functions to tell the reader how Marlow succeeds in getting the finances he needs toShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesE SSAYS ON TWENTIETH-C ENTURY H ISTORY In the series Critical Perspectives on the Past, edited by Susan Porter Benson, Stephen Brier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture