Misogyny in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Another issue that has been raised continuously throughout time has been how women are depicted in novels. Conrad in particular, reflects his original context by objectifying the women he creates in his novel ‘Heart of Darkness’. The roles of women here are hardly acknowledged and are portrayed as naïve; senseless beings having to be protected, Marlow commenting that in essence, men ‘…must help them…stay in that beautiful world of their own…’ This is characterized in Kurtz’ Intended who is pictured as an ideal woman, ‘…smooth and white…illumined by the…light of belief and love…’ The soft gentle imagery, in particular the use of ‘white’ shapes this woman as pure, submissive and weak, but also isolated in her naivety of the real world. If not white, then the other kind of woman Conrad gives a role to is the savage African mistress. ‘…Savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent…ominous and stately…’ With such large and grand descriptions, Conrad portrays the native woman as defiantly capable however fearful. ‘Wild-eyed…ominous and stately…’ illustrate Conrad’s view that the black woman is untamed and uncivilized, akin to an animal and therefore not considered as graceful or a desired woman. These opposing ideas of woman in Conrad’s text inform the audience of today, the strict and patriarchal ideals of Conrad’s context that were imposed on women.

The omniscient narrator acknowledges a near-invisibility of women in Things Fall Apart. Describing a communal ceremony, he confesses, "It was clear from the way the crowd stood that the ceremony was for men. There were many women, but they looked on from the fringe like outsiders"(pg.77). They are not invited to stay when men are engaged in any discussion; they are not included in council of war; they do not form part of the masquerades representing the judiciary and ancestral spirits. Okonkwo views women AS weak and foolish. He has a different expectation for men and women. This can be clearly SEEN by the way that he raises his children. He tries his best to train Nwoye to be strong and brave while he feels sorry that Ezinma is a girl. Okonkwo knows that "Ezinma has the right spirit", but he does not try to make her TOO be brave or TOO strong. He favors her the most out

Okonkwo still believes in male superiority, but this quote shows the reader that women truly do hold a valuable place in the world. Women are there to show compassion and to defend the child. In our culture today men are supposed to be the powerful dominate figure

How are the roles and representations of females in the texts She by H. Rider Haggard and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe presented? Given two different situations the women are in, the outcome is close to the same. Ayesha in She plays a role she created for herself in the Amahagger community, which can be contrasted with the culture the novel was written in by the author at the time. The women in Things Fall Apart are also as such represented by their culture, and can be compared to the female gender seen by their people as a distinct role. In both, the woman in these texts take on roles and functions of the cultures that they existed inside, which is important to understand why they behave as they do.

Women are often thought of as the weaker, more vulnerable of the two sexes. Thus, women’s roles in literature are often subdued and subordinate. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, women are repressed by an entrenched structure of the social repression. Women suffer great losses in this novel but, also in certain circumstances, hold tremendous power. Achebe provides progressively changing attitudes towards women’s role. At first glance, the women in Things Fall Apart may seem to be an oppressed group with little power and this characterization is true to some extent. However, this characterization of Igbo women reveals itself to be prematurely simplistic as well as limiting, once

In the modern world women work, vote, run for office and the list goes on. In most aspects, women are equal to men. However, this was not always the case. In centuries past, women were not viewed as being equal to men socially, intellectually, or politically and were thought incapable of accomplishing anything of value. Consequently, many cultures held the view that women were possessions whose only purpose was to be subservient to men. The view of women as mere objects is evident in various works of literature throughout the ages. Two classic works of literature that exemplify this are The Thousand and One Nights and Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of

Historically, women have been viewed as inferior to men due to a female's lack of physical strength. In the candid novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe clearly defines gender roles; women are the caretakers and cooks- simply existing to satisfy men’s desires. Although “Things Fall Apart portrays the women as weak ,inferior, and being put in their place by men; however, Achebe also notes their importance during several parts of the story. By incorporating powerful dialogues and scenes to develop gender conflicts, Achebe uses the completely divergent character of Okonkwo, who constantly strives to achieve manliness to demonstrate that although women in the Igbo society are important, they are not treated as such. Chinua Achebe, the author suggests that there is a constant conflict which exists between the two genders and the expectations of the roles in which each of them must play.

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart gives us a vivid description of the Igbo culture through the stories of Okonkwo and his village, Umuofia. In regards to Igbo culture, contributions of women cannot be ignored. Although their position and status seems to be underestimated by the people in the novel, women do play an important role in the Igbo culture in four aspects: women take care of the children, do all the housework, serve as priestesses, and build relationships with other villages.

It is always interesting to me to see what types of roles women play in popular books or novels of western history. Most novels and books focus on men as the main characters. The role of women in Things fall apart is more of a background story but their significance is deeply rooted in this book. Women play pivotal roles in society, education, and religion according to Achebe.

In the 1900s novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the protagonist often encounters women at landmarks of his life. Charlie Marlow is a sailor and imperialist who sets out along the Congo River to “civilize” the “savages.” The novella begins with a crew on the Thames waiting for the tides to change. During their wait, a character named Marlow tells of his exploits on the African continent. In his recounted travels, Marlow meets other imperialists such as Mr. Kurtz, a man who is obsessed with the pursuit of ivory and riches. Like Mr. Kurtz, Marlow embarks across the African continent in hopes of earning both money and respect. One early critic of the novel, Edward Garnett, wrote in his review that “[Heart of Darkness] is simply a

For the most part people who read Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad may feel that the novella is strictly a story of exploration and racial discrimination. But to Johanna Smith who wrote “’Too Beautiful Altogether’: Ideologies of Gender and Empire in Heart of Darkness” it is much more than that. Johanna Smith along with Wallace Watson and Rita A. Bergenholtz agree that throughout Heart of Darkness there are tones of gender prejudice, but the way that these three different authors perceive and interpret those gender tones are to a certain extent different.

In Heart of Darkness women are not paid much attention beyond that of Kurtz's mistress and his fiancee. The only other women mentioned in the novel are the two ladies knitting with skeins of black wool, and the narrator's aunt, who got him his job with the Company. Since the aunt and the knitters are no mentioned hardly at all, only the

The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a commanding account about the rise and fall of an African tribe. The powerful narrative depicts the life and customs of the people and how they change through the years. Theere are many different ideas and characters that are preseneted throughout the novel. The depiction of women is one aspect that is of extreme relevance. It can be shown through several passages in the novel that the women are actually the unseen power behind the mighty Umofian tribe.

Heart of Darkness is written by Joseph Conrad and published in 1899. It is a novella written in the early modernism literary period.

Okonkwo illustrates the use of gender roles and lack of feminism in his daughter, Ezinma and his regret of her being a girl (Achebe 137). Okonkwo’s desire for his daughter to be a man is problematic and represents the patriarch’s refusal to view women as equal to men. Throughout Ezinma’s life time, Okonkwo expresses his desires for Ezinma to be born a boy ( Achebe 137). He explictly states to himself that he, “wishes she were a boy,” because she “understands him perfectly” (Achebe 136). Okonkwo expands on this desire as he continue to express how Ezinma is his favorite among the daughters and that she understands the ways of his consciousness and his moods (Achebe 137) . Although these expressions are subtle, Okonkwo’s regret of Ezinma’s gender plays a role in the patriarchal induced gender roles that women are socially lesser than men. Society’s standards