Pychoanalysis And Feminism In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

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When read at face value, Joseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness, is a portrayal of white, imperial, oppression of the African natives of the Congo. However, when we view the writing through the lenses of psychoanalysis and feminism, a story focused on one character, Marlow, emerges. Each theory presents a new way of interpreting and understanding the character development and imagery within the story. Psychoanalysis provides a look into the mind and dreamlike setting of Marlow. Feminism examines the binary gender roles of the characters, Marlow and Kurtz. Both theories examine how these two characters are in some way the same person. Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, is noted for his work detailing the inner elements of the …show more content…

It was a voyage of self-discovery. According to psychoanalytic theory, Marlow represents the ego within the story as he should since this story revolves around him and his voyage. He says the effect on him was to throw a light on his unclear idea of who he was before the trip started. This trip into the heart of Africa would expose the inner workings of his mind and introduce him to different aspects of himself. Throughout the story, we have the steamboat ever present. The farther he steamed up the river the more enlightened he became. So, in this respect, the steamboat is the physical representation of his increased enlightenment of himself. His original tasking was to find Kurtz and bring him back down the river. During his journey, he learns more and more about this mysterious man to the point his need to talk with him, Kurtz presents “himself as a voice”. This description greatly resembles the job of the super-ego. However, upon finding Kurtz, Marlow realizes he is not in search of what he has made his ideal but a pale shadow of a man who has turned himself over to his primitive self completely. Kurtz no longer occupies his thoughts as some great hero to be found and rescued, but an ill man who has resorted to the lowest depravity in order to benefit personally. What does all of this mean to me and my interpretation of Heart of Darkness? It gives me a new way to understand the

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