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.
Heartless (2009 film)
Heartless is a 2009 British horror film written and directed by Philip Ridley and starring Jim Sturgess, Noel Clarke, Clémence Poésy and Eddie Marsan. This was Ridley's first film in fourteen years since 1995's "The Passion of Darkly Noon". The film garnered positive reception from critics who praised the performances and dark atmospheric tone that complemented the Faustian plot.