Reading Conrad’s Unpublished Trilogy: “Youth,” Heart of Darkness, and Lord Jim

Abstract:Conrad wrote “Youth,” Heart of Darkness, and Lord Jim to be published as a trilogy. Two months before Conrad finished Lord Jim, his publisher informed him that it was financially unviable to publish the three works together. To date, Conrad’s intended trilogy remains unpublished as a homogenous book, and underexplored. Critics have only given the structure of the trilogy passing mention. Read as a composite novel in the order Conrad intended, all three works offer a developing perspective on how steam affected merchant sailing. The placement of “Youth” before Lord Jim contrasts the sea-life of light literature with the grimy reality of industrial seafaring. As if Conrad intended to create a self-reflective contrast in style and genre, Heart of Darkness and the first half of Lord Jim are framed by “Youth” and the Patusan romance, which respectively begin and end the trilogy.