e trade industry that he did what was unthinkable in those times: he asked a woman for

financial assistance. The woman, his aunt, also transcended the traditional role of women in
those times by telling Marlow that she would be delighted to help him and to ask her for help
whenever he needed it. This incident did not have much to do with the symbolic theme of the
story; it simply served to tell the reader how Marlow managed to be able to travel to the Congo.
On a higher level, it was intended by Conrad to illustrate Marlow’s opinion of women’s
inferior role in society, which embodied traditional 19th century society. 
The two other female characters are not mentioned until much later in the story, after
Marlow has arrived at the Inner Station. When Marlow reaches this point in his tale, he jumps
ahead and tells a little bit about The Intended, Kurtz’s fianceé who was to marry Kurtz when he
returned. The Intended woman does not appear until the very end of the novelette, in which
Marlow visits her and lies to her about Kurtz’s dying words. The Intended had a more significant
role in the story than Marlow’s aunt; however, her role