Shakespeare’s Relevance: Huxley Sets the Stage of Social Ethics English IV

John The Character of “John the Savage”: John is self-educated through the reading of Shakespeare’s Complete Works. John the Savage has a entirely different moral compass than everyone else. –He attributes quality in concepts such as: marriage love family chastity

John John’s various quotes from Shakespeare create a stark contrast between the utilitarian simplicity and insane babble of the World State’s propaganda and the nuanced, elegant verse of a time “before Ford.” “Nay, but to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stew’d in corruption, honeying and making love over thy nasty sty…” “Orgy-porgy, Ford and fun, Kiss the girls and make them One. Boys at one with girls at peace; orgy-porgy gives release.” Shakespeare’s LanguageWorld State’s Repetitions CivilizedUncivilized

John John is initially excited to see the “civilized” society his mother told him about, but he is quickly distressed by what he finds. –There is no love –No one is allowed to be an individual –Obstacle Golf is valued more than the dignity of man –Death is unfelt “He woke once more to external reality, looked around him, knew what he saw – knew it, with a sinking sense of horror and disgust, for the recurrent delirium of his days and nights, the nightmare of swarming indistinguishable sameness.”

Othello in BNW The only "feely" in the novel, Three Weeks in a Helicopter, features a black antagonist with a white heroine. (Shakespeare's Othello)

Othello in BNW John becomes outraged much like Othello in Shakespeare’s OthelloJohn becomes outraged much like Othello in Shakespeare’s Othello –Othello is angry with Desdemona for supposed infidelity and John is angry with Lenina for blatant sexuality.

Othello Think of the tragic events that can happen because of passion. In Romeo and Juliet the characters kill themselves for love. In Othello a husband kills his wife because he is convinced she was unfaithful. Shakespeare’s plays provide many examples of precisely the kind of human relations—passionate, intense, and often tragic—that the World State is committed to eliminating.

The Tempest “O, Wonder!” How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in’t” –Huxley titles this novel, Brave New World, which is a line from The Tempest, also written by William Shakespeare. –The Tempest is the most closely aligned play with regards to the themes of Brave New World. Themes such as: escapism, glorification of perfectionism, and predestined nobility.