Question: How many female characters do you find in Heart of Darkness, and what symbols do they bear?
Ans. There are five female characters in Heart of Darkness, and all of them are symbolic figures. They belong to a world of fantasy and illusion.
The first woman, who asks Marlow to take the light of progress and civilization to the savages of Africa, symbolizes the dream-world, the world of idealism, and the illusions held by most whitemen regarding their so-called civilizing mission. They have no understanding of the reality of what is happening in the heart of Africa.
The two women knitting black wool outside the gates of the Company’s office in Brussels symbolize blind fate, working to bring ruin and disaster to mankind. They also represent the unconscious fears of Marlow regarding his expedition into the unknown and mysterious heart of Africa.
The mysterious native woman, tall and majestic, who loves Kurtz and is unwilling to leave him, symbolizes strong and violent passions.
Kurtz’s fiancée, the Intended, who waits for him in England, symbolizes silent, strong, and self-sacrificing love. She also represents perfect faith and innocence. She is a death-figure to whom Marlow delivers the papers given to him by Kurtz; in this way, he seeks to bury both his memory of Kurtz and his dealings with him.
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