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Heart of Darkness Women and Femininity Quotes Page 5
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
"She struck me as beautiful – I mean she had a beautiful expression. I know that the sunlight can be made to lie, too, yet one felt that no manipulation of light and pose could have conveyed the delicate shade of truthfulness upon those features. She seemed ready to listen without mental reservation, without suspicion, without a thought for herself." (3.50)
Marlow is attracted to Kurtz’s Intended not only because of her feminine beauty, but for her seemingly open expression and innocence.
"Their [the Intended’s eyes’] glance was guileless, profound, confident, and trustful. She carried her sorrowful head as though she were proud of that sorrow, as though she would say, 'I - I alone know how to mourn for him as he deserves.'" (3.53)
Marlow imposes his opinion of women as naïve creatures on Kurtz’s Intended, describing her as pure and "guileless," especially noting the honest expression of pain in her eyes.
[Marlow]: "'It was impossible not to--'
'Love him,' she [the Intended] finished eagerly, silencing me into an appalled dumbness. 'How true! how true! But when you think that no one knew him so well as I! I had all his noble confidence. I knew him best.'" (3.56-57)
The Intended speaks as Marlow envisions a naïve bereft young girl would – with an assurance of the unquestionable goodness of her lover and a certainty that everyone viewed him as she did.
