"Did I mention a girl? Oh, she is out of it-completely. They-the women I mean-are out of it-should be out of it" (Conrad 88). This quote is just one example of how women are thought of in Heart of Darkness. They are viewed as a weaker, gentler kind that live in a "beautiful world of their own" (Conrad 88). It is the idea of Marlow that it is the job of man to make sure women stay in this "beautiful world." Marlow encounters very few women in Heart of Darkness but the few he does encounter usually either have an interesting story behind them or Marlow has some interesting thoughts on them. However, most of all, women are always shown as being something very different from men. As if they really belong in another world. Women such as the aunt of Marlow, the three women in the office, and the African mistress of Kurtz are examples of how women in Heart of Darkness are viewed as different, weaker, gentler, and sometimes, as a different breed of human.
"I, Charlie Marlow, set the women to work - to get a job. Heavens" (Conrad 11)! In this quote, Marlow is speaking of an aunt he had who was more than eager to help him get a job on a boat in Africa. A reader can see from the quote that Marlow cannot believe he has asked a woman to do work for him. Marlow is someone who believes that women do not belong doing any kind of work. They are gentle people, and should not be drawn into the more violent world of man. In the end, of course, the aunt succeeded in getting him the job. He went to thank her, and "found her triumphant" (Conrad 18). She was all worked up, excited about "weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways," meaning to civilize the natives of Africa (Conrad 19).
Though some people may believe that the aunt is speaking quite intelligently, Marlow finds her talk to be a bit foolish. He says, "It's queer how out of touch with truth women are. They live in a world of their own, and there had never been anything like it, and never can be. Some confounded fact we men have been living contentedly with ever since the day of creation would start up and knock the whole thing over" (Conrad 19). Of course, most people now may not find the aunt to be "out of touch with the truth", since she is speaking of a well-known issue of the time, but Marlow automatically believes that, because she is a women, she has no sense of reality.
"Two women, one fat and the other slim, sat on straw-bottomed chairs, knitting black wool" (Conrad 14). Here, Marlow describes the two women he met, sitting outside the office. These two nameless women show how women are also viewed in Heart of Darkness as being almost inhuman. The most interesting feature about these two is that they are knitting with black wool. Now, this may seem like no big deal. They are knitting with black wool. Maybe the like the color black. However, there is more meaning to this black wool than a color preference. So, what does this normally nondescript bit of black wool represent?
First, a reader must analyze the position of the women in the room. The sit in front of the office door, on either side, as though they are guarding it. Second, the reader must think about the very color black. Black is usually a color that represents darkness, evil, and many other forms of unpleasantness. However, it is Marlow who explains this all best in saying "Often far away there I thought of these two, guarding the door of Darkness, knitting black wool as for a warm pall, one introducing, introducing continuously to the unknown, the other scrutinizing the cheery and foolish faces with unconcerned old eyes" (Conrad 16).
With this quote, Marlow is comparing these two women to the Fates of Greek mythology. The Fates are known for 'weaving' the futures of mortal men down in the Underworld. Indeed, these two women must seem, to Marlow, quite like the Fates, knitting his future in front of a door of Darkness. For when he walks through that door and receives his assignment in Africa, his fate may be sealed, just as the captain before him had his fate sealed, and his was death. All Marlow can wonder about these two almost inhuman knitters is if they are weaving him a good fate, or one like his predecessor.
"She walked with measured steps, draped in striped cloths, treading the earth proudly, with a slight jingle and flash of barbarous ornaments. She carried her head high; her hair was done in the shape of a helmet; she had brass 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; bizarre things, charms, gifts of witchmen, that hung about her, glittered and trembled at every step. She must have had the value of several elephant tusks upon her" (Conrad 113).
In that long description is Marlow speaking about the African mistress of Kurtz. She is described as being covered in riches, or what is considered riches in Africa. Kurtz has really turned her into more of a prize, a trophy. A hanger for all of his wealth. It is suggested, though, that Kurtz may have really listened to her when one man mentions "she talked like a fury to Kurtz for an hour, pointing at me now and then. Luckily for me, I fancy Kurtz felt too ill that day to care, or there would have been mischief" (Conrad 115). That quote suggests that Kurtz would listen to the complaints of the woman and would act upon him, much to the displeasure of the colonists around him.
It is highly doubtful that the colonists supported Kurtz and his choice to be with this native woman, especially when the same man as quoted above says, "If she had offered to come aboard I really think I would have tried to shoot her" (Conrad 114). This suggests that, though this native woman may have had the support of Kurtz, in the end, the rest of the male colonists held the same sexist prejudices and, because of her African heritage, racist views of Marlow. She is weaker, she is inhuman, and she does not belong with them. She is left behind as they sail Kurtz away from the station.
The views Marlow had on women would not be accepted in the more equal society of today. Society today believes that women, first of all, are just as human as men. That they do not live in a "beautiful world of their own," but in the same, sometimes beautiful, sometimes ugly world all humans live in (Conrad 88). There is nothing wrong with women working any job, even one like Marlow had in the story.
Marlow, if he was able to see the world as it is now, would be in shock at the way women are treated now. He may ask, 'Why did you let them out of their beautiful world? How can you let them see the brutality of man's world?' To which any woman of today may answer 'Because, there is no such place as 'Man's World' and 'Woman's World.' All people live in this one world as humans. Women know what truth and reality is just as well as men and all people are human, despite skin color or gender. Women are the equals of Men.'