Abstract
Due largely to the explicit reference to the Inferno within 'Heart of Darkness,' much has been said about Conrad's relation with Dante, in particular with reference to this story. This essay will argue that Conrad recreates imagery from the Inferno in a far wider range of texts than those which have been noted so far. In some of these cases, the imagery is to a certain degree inexplicable within Conrad's narrative unless what such imagery signifies within the Inferno is recalled, in which case it always underlies and occasionally prefigures the action of that part of Conrad's text in which it is found; certainly the allusions never add to the text in a way which is not immediately consistent with it. If the Inferno is not recalled, these instances can be so odd that Conrad himself calls one of them 'absurd' at the very moment of its creation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Conradiana |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 2001 |
Disciplines
- English Language and Literature