About the Author
Joseph Conrad was born Teodor Jozef Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski near Berdyczew, Poland, on December 3, 1857. His father was an idealist-a poet, translator of Shakespeare, […]
Hearth of Darkness
Overview and Setting
Overview In 1890 Conrad sailed to the Belgian Congo. More than a decade later, he reworked his memories of this trip into his novella Heart […]
Themes and Characters
Heart of Darkness is a tale of many voyages. Charlie Marlow’s voyage into the depths of the “Dark Continent” parallels his voyage into the heart […]
Literary Qualities
Conrad uses a variety of techniques to advance his narrative and to imbue it, like a parable, with a quality of universality derived from specific […]
Social Sensitivity
The combined exploitative forces of capitalism and imperialism are the objects of Conrad’s social criticism in Heart of Darkness. Conrad focuses his moral irony on […]
Topics for Discussion
1. Because of his experiences in Poland, Conrad hated totalitarianism. What evidence do you see of this hatred in Heart of Darkness? 2. Marlow opens […]
Ideas for Reports and Papers
1. Critics have pointed out that Marlow’s journey is a descent to the underworld, similar to Dante’s in The Divine Comedy. Explain the critics’ position. […]
Related Titles and Adaptations
His first novels, Almayer’s Folly (1895) and An Outcast of the Islands (1896), established Conrad as an observer of persons under stress, self-destructive aliens in […]