Throughout history, women have often been relegated to insignificant and humiliating roles. From one perspective, the women of Heart of Darkness seem to have much more power than traditional roles allow them. For example, Marlow's aunt has significant influence within society as she is able to find Marlow a job, and the native mistress has a commanding presence within her tribe. However, upon closer inspection, the male patriarchal view of women in society, especially that of Marlow and Kurtz in the book, limits the importance of women. In the novel, women are considered and treated in only two ways: inferior to men and ignorant of reality, despite the important air they may display. Thus, although women appear superficially important in the novel, their roles are actually limited by their male counterparts. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Marlow's aunt is the first woman readers see. She first appears as an important character since Marlow turns to her to find her a job. Marlow's aunt knows "the wife of a very senior personage in the Administration, and also a man of much influence" (44), which suggests that she is also respected by society. But her value is still secondary in Marlow's eyes: Marlow comments that she was "ready to do anything, anything...if that were my fancy" (44), implying that the purpose of his aunt was to serve his whims. In fact, Marlow ridicules women in general when he refers to his aunt: “So, would you believe it? I tried women. I, Charles Marlow, put women to work to find employment. (44). Marlow's statement supports the idea that men view women as their last resort, regardless of their importance. What is important here is that the woman's inferiority does not come from herself but from the man's point of view. Marlow's aunt makes no comment on her place in society, but Marlow readily offers his own, which explains why women are considered inferior to men. Furthermore, Marlow's aunt is presented in the novel as being detached from reality. She speaks of "weaning these ignorant millions from their horrible ways" (49), when in fact Marlow knows that "the Society was run for profit" (49). She wrongly believes that the aim of the Company is above all to civilize the natives. Indeed, when his aunt talks about what Marlow calls "the rot of print and just talks about those times" (49), and the only advice she gives is to wear flannel in the Congo, readers have the feeling that it is isolated from the truth of imperialism. From this impression of a woman in Victorian England, Marlow makes a general statement that sets the tone of female inferiority: “It is strange how out of touch women are with the truth. quite like that, and it can never be. It's so beautiful together, and if they installed it, it would fall apart before the first sunset. A disconcerting fact that we humans have lived happily with since the day of creation. start and turn it all around" (49). Thus, for men, women are only important in their own world, a fictional setting protected from reality. Another example of this notion of a "separate world" occurs when Marlow tells the Addressee Kurtz's last words Like Marlow's aunt, Destiny represents the women of..