Charles Marlow
Marlow's name may be inspired by the Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe. Conrad's father was a translator of William Shakespeare who doubtless would have known of Marlowe's work as well. Some intertextual interpretations of "Heart of Darkness" have suggested that Marlowe's "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus" may have influenced Conrad. Charles Marlow describes a character as a "papier-mache Mephistopheles", a reference to the Faust legend. Marlow's and Kurtz's journey up the Congo River in "Heart of Darkness" also has similarities to another work by Marlowe, "Dido, Queen of Carthage", in which Aeneas is stranded on the shore of Libya and meets the African queen Dido.
Re-Edition Texts: Heart of Darkness
"Heart of Darkness" is a novel told in the first person perspective that surrounds the character Marlow as he retells the story of when he traveled through Africa for his trade company. The novel alludes to Africa as a place of darkness, thus the title referring to being in the heart of Africa or heart of "Darkness". The novel describes Africa as a place of evil, and violent natives. The character Kurtz displays the effects of living in such a place for a long time. Kurtz grows ill and eventually passes, but he shows his passions for how much he loved Africa and how much he didn't want to leave. At one point he leaves wood for the steamer ship in a hut, and after the ship takes on all the wood, they are attacked by the natives. Later it is discovered that Kurtz organized the attack so that he could stay in Africa. Kurtz had grown to love his life in Africa and the culture, for example when the ship picks him up, there's a woman watching as the ship leaves, and that woman is Kurtz significant other.