Women in Heart of Darkness

Literary Analysis – Essay Planning

Step 1 – essay plan

Thesis
Women are portrayed as an involuntary remedy for depravation of the world.
Claim #1		Claim #2		Claim #3
Women are considered not to be engaged in the “real life”.		Harsh world was only accessible for the men.		Innocence connected with naivity are the most appreciated female features in Heart of Darkness.
Evidence #1	Evidence #2	Evidence #1	Evidence #2	Evidence #1	Evidence #2
So I worried them. The men said ‘My dear fellow,’ and did nothing. Then—would you believe it?—I tried the women. I, Charlie Marlow, set the women to work—to get a job. Heavens! Well, you see, the notion drove me. I had an aunt, a dear enthusiastic soul. Collins’ Classics p. 8	I have been risking my life every day for the last fortnight to keep her out of the house. She got in one day and kicked up a row about those miserable rags I picked up in the storeroom to mend my clothes with. I wasn’t decent Collins’ Classics p. 79	“‘The horror! The horror!’ Collins’ Classics p. 90	“The mind of man is capable of anything — because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. What was there after all? Joy, fear, sorrow, devotion, valour, rage — who can tell? — but truth — truth stripped of its cloak of time. Let the fool gape and shudder — the man knows, and can look on without a wink. But he must at least be as much of a man as these on the shore. He must meet that truth with his own true stuff — with his own inborn strength. Principles? Principles won't do. Acquisitions, clothes, pretty rags — rags that would fly off at the first good shake. No; you want a deliberate belief.” Collins’ Classics p. 44	“‘Yes, I know,’ I said with something like despair in my heart, but bowing my head before the faith that was in her, before that great and saving illusion that shone with an unearthly glow in the darkness, in the triumphant darkness from which I could not have defended her—from which I could not even defend myself. Collins’ Classics p.  98	Then I noticed a small sketch in oils, on a panel, representing a woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch. Collins’ Classics p. 29

Step 2 – rough draft

Introduction:

√      Grab reader’s attention

XIXth century may appear today as a time of great underappreciation of women. Despite they did not even try then to replace man, the significance of them could not be ommited

√      Provide some literary background to your topic

Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”

√      Thesis One sentence, last sentence in introduction

Women are portrayed as an essential remedy for depravation of the world.

Body Paragraph #1:

√      Topic sentence for claim #1 in support of thesis

Women are considered not to be engaged in the “real life”.

√      Support #1(This is a quote or paraphrase)…Quotes can’t stand alone, and they MUST have page numbers!!

“So I worried them. The men said ‘My dear fellow,’ and did nothing. Then—would you believe it?—I tried the women. I, Charlie Marlow, set the women to work—to get a job. Heavens! Well, you see, the notion drove me. I had an aunt, a dear enthusiastic soul.” (Collins’ Classics p. 8)

√      Explain how support #1 relates to claim #1

It shows how absurd for Marlow was the idea of asking woman for a help.

√      Support #2(This is a quote or paraphrase)…Quotes can’t stand alone, and they MUST have page numbers!!

“I have been risking my life every day for the last fortnight to keep her out of the house. She got in one day and kicked up a row about those miserable rags I picked up in the storeroom to mend my clothes with. I wasn’t decent.” (Collins’ Classics p. 79)

√      Explain how support #2 relates to claim#1

It was natural for harlequin, that the black mistress used to kick up a fuss as a result of things of no importance.

√      If you haven’t already, explain how claim #1 relates to thesis,  and transition to next claim #2

Given those quotes we get the image of how the women were treated in the society

Body Paragraph #2

√      Topic sentence for claim #2 in support of thesis

Harsh world is accessible only for the men.

√      Support #1(This is a quote or paraphrase)…Quotes can’t stand alone, and they MUST have page numbers!!

“‘The horror! The horror!’ (Collins’ Classics p. 90)

√      Explain how support #1 relates to claim #2

Last word’s of Kurtz clearly reflect his mental state while dying. It is caused by lot of traumatic experiences.

√      Support #2(This is a quote or paraphrase)…Quotes can’t stand alone, and they MUST have page numbers!!

“The mind of man is capable of anything — because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. What was there after all? Joy, fear, sorrow, devotion, valour, rage — who can tell? — but truth — truth stripped of its cloak of time. Let the fool gape and shudder — the man knows, and can look on without a wink. But he must at least be as much of a man as these on the shore. He must meet that truth with his own true stuff — with his own inborn strength. Principles? Principles won't do. Acquisitions, clothes, pretty rags — rags that would fly off at the first good shake. No; you want a deliberate belief.” (Collins’ Classics p. 44)

√      Explain how support #2 relates to claim#2

It is just a piece of male’s reflection. In HoD the reader gets the impression, that the women do not have any wider look on, for example, society.

√      If you haven’t already, explain how claim #2 relates to thesis,  and transition to next claim #3

However, between the lines we could see how important the women are.

Body Paragraph #3

√      Topic sentence for claim #3 in support of thesis

Innocence connected with naivity are the most appreciated female features in Heart of Darkness.

√      Support #1(This is a quote or paraphrase)…Quotes can’t stand alone, and they MUST have page numbers!!

“‘Yes, I know,’ I said with something like despair in my heart, but bowing my head before the faith that was in her, before that great and saving illusion that shone with an unearthly glow in the darkness, in the triumphant darkness from which I could not have defended her—from which I could not even defend myself.” (Collins’ Classics p. 98)

√      Explain how support #1 relates to claim #3

It reveals, how important the ilusions delivered by women are for Marlow. It also indicates, that this naive behaviour (faith in love of Kurtz in this case) is natural for women. That is why he decided to lie to her, even though he had stated before that he detests lying.

√      Support #2(This is a quote or paraphrase)…Quotes can’t stand alone, and they MUST have page numbers!!

“Then I noticed a small sketch in oils, on a panel, representing a woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch.” (Collins’ Classics p. 29)

√      Explain how support #2 relates to claim#3

The woman on the painting could be treated symbolically, as a representant of all women. On one hand the band which covers eyes shows naivety, on the other torch in hand indicates that there’s a sort of power brought by women.

√      If you haven’t already, explain how claim #3 relates to thesis,  and transition to conclusion

It introduces women’s features, the book praises.

Conclusion

√      Restate thesis & claims using NEW words

In Heart of Darkness women are the keepers of the values men of the ferocius world frantically need. In spite of feeling superior to women, main characters (Marlow, Kurtz) are perfectly aware of their crucial role to life – bringing hope and keeping their minds off “real” matters.

√      Final thoughts for reader (relation to real world or what readers should learn from the work, etc.)

Such a view is fairly radical and would face strong criticism nowadays. On the other hand, we have to keep in mind, that showing women in such a way was rather beneficial for them comparing to common contemporary views.