Conrad and Masculinity

2 Introduction
that accept and work with the basic premises of feminism: the historical
and continuing (though widely varying) oppression of women in
many cultures, including Western culture; the distinction between
biological sex and socially constructed gender; the acknowledgement
that masculinity has been and continues to be constructed in a
manner which has oppressive and destructive consequences (often for
men themselves, but more so for women). There are, of course, diverse
forms of feminism; my main point at this stage, however, is to distinguish
theories of masculinity that seek to learn from and respond
positively to feminism from those that react against it. I begin with
the assumption that an adequate consideration of gender in Conrad’s
work requires a developed theoretical basis with respect to both femininity
and masculinity, drawing on feminist, psychoanalytical and
cultural theory.
Conrad’s representation of gender needs to be understood in its
historical context. Since the construction of masculinity at the present
time is part of a social and discursive history, showing both continuity
and change between Conrad’s time and our own, a historicized
reading of masculinity in Conrad has considerable contemporary relevance,
as well as illuminating his fiction and his times. Among the
many factors shaping representations of gender in late nineteenthcentury
and early twentieth-century British culture, two of undoubted
importance were the continuing development of the British Empire
and the debate over the economic situation and political rights of
women. Each of these factors not only formed part of the general
cultural context of literature, but also found expression in specific
literary genres. Narratives of travel and exploration, and adventure
stories, especially those intended for boys, expressed and developed
the ideology of Empire. 6 The ‘New Woman’ novels and drama of the
1890s and 1900s contributed to the debate concerning women’s rights
in the period, leading up to the changes in gender roles associated
with the First World War and the eventual achievement of votes for
women in the United Kingdom in 1918 and 1928. Conrad was influenced
by writers of adventure stories and his own work, up to and
including ‘Heart of Darkness’, has important affinities with the genre
even while seeking to transform it. 7 Conrad makes direct allusion to
feminism in Under Western Eyes, in a satirical portrait of an exploitative
male ‘feminist’, but comes closer to dealing with the idea of the
‘New Woman’ in Chance, which is oddly divided between a largely
sympathetic account of the oppressed heroine, Flora de Barral, and a
grotesque and hostile caricature of the ‘feminist’, Mrs Fyne. However,