Heart Of Darkness Kurtz Homosexual Analysis

Homosexuality within queer discourse is also represented within Marlow’s seemingly homosexual emotions for Kurtz in Heart of Darkness. Marlow’s hidden queer emotions for Kurtz are vocalized frequently throughout the novel, particularly in the scene of Kurtz’s rumored death (Conrad 62). In this scene, Marlow expresses extreme distress at the thought of Kurtz’s death and announces his deep sorrows of losing the opportunity to meet Kurtz (Conrad 62). Marlow mentions that Kurtz “seduced [him] into something like admiration…all of his gifts the one that stood out preeminently…was his ability to talk, his words - the gift of expression…” (Conrad 62). In essence, Marlow expresses a deep infatuation with Kurtz that is queer and different from Marlow’s remaining
Marlow’s reaction symbolizes that the Intended was knowledgeable on Marlow’s homosexual emotions for Kurtz and that Marlow did not want these emotions revealed. These examples signal that Marlow embodies the idea of a strange relationship for a man, thus representing the difference from the normative behavior pushed onto men. Likewise, Bennett and Royle discuss that queerness was defined by homosexuality for men in the late 19th century, just prior to the publication of Heart of Darkness (Bennett and Royle 261). Heart of Darkness demonstrates an accurate discourse of homosexuality within men, as homosexuality was seen as outlawed, both legally and socially, and could not be practiced without consequences (Bristow 14). With this understanding, Marlow himself can be represented as queer in terms of homosexuality due to the shift in definition of queer to exclusively ostracize men for having “strange” emotions or relationships that were against the heteronormative