The Woman Question in The Secret Agent: Conrad's Humanism

Abstract

This essay deals with Conrad's treatment of the woman question, one of the most controversial topic of the Victorian Age. As opposed to the two extremes of the question, Conrad adopts a position that makes him more or less as accidentalist, rather than an essentialist, believing that women, like men, are governed as much by nature as by nurture. To illustrate this view, he places Winnie, the protagonist, of his novel, under very difficult conditions that lead her to murder her husband, a form of madness that can be explained, at least partly, in terms of her circumstances. He also uses foil as a narrative technique to show that different women respond differently to conditions which are almost the same as hers. Thus, he frees women from natural determinism and from preconceived categorizations and generalizations. This is the form of his humanism.