Shakespearean AllusionsBrave New World

HAMLET

Shakespeare

Nay, but to live

In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,

Stew’d in corruption, honeying and making love

Over the nasty sty…”

Act 2 Scene IV

Context Hamlet is sickened by his recently widowed mother’s marriage to his uncle. In Hamlet’s day, marrying your former brother-in-law was considered to be akin to incest. He is also angry that the marriage takes place so quickly after the death of his father because he feels his mother is dishonoring his father’s memory.

Discussion Questions

A major theme of Hamlet concerns a young man’s inability to come to terms with his mother’s failings. In particular, the belief that his mother has had a lapse in morality. How is this theme mirrored in Brave New World?

In Hamlet a son must protect the memory of his lost father. John has never known his father, yet his mother has built up expectations in her son. How has she done this? Why might the reader worry that John will be disappointed?

HAMLET

Shakespeare

“When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage

Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed…”

Hamlet Act III Scene 3

ContextHamlet has a chance to kill his uncle, but decides against it because he believes his uncle is praying for forgiveness. To kill his uncle while in the act of confession would mean his uncle would go to heaven. Therefore, as the quote indicates he will wait to kill him when he is involved in an activity that is sinful, thereby damning his uncle to hell.

Discussion Questions

Hamlet hates his uncle because he blames him for the moral downfall of his mother. Which characters in Brave New World mirror this dynamic?

Hamlet seeks to avenge the defilement of his once morally pure mother. John sees himself as the son of a mother wronged. As a reader, we should be able to see the irony of this situation. Explain.

HAMLET

Shakespeare

I should have fatted all the region’s kitesWith this slave's offal. Bloody, bawdy villain!Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!O, vengeance!

Hamlet Act II Scene ii

ContextThis is a quote from a soliloquy in which Hamlet scolds himself for his lack of momentum. He knows he needs to take action against his uncle, but he keeps second-guessing himself. He rages at his perceived cowardice and lack of ability to save his mother from her sins and defend the memory of his father.

Discussion Questions

John says Shakespeare gave him the words to express his hatred of Popé. Why didn’t John have the words to do so before reading Shakespeare?

Look back over the three quotes from Hamlet. What emotion(s) are reflected by these quotes?

Romeo and Juliet

ShakespeareIf I profane with my unworthiest handThis holy shrine, the gentler sin is this:My lips, two pilgrims, ready standTo smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

Romeo and Juliet

Act I Scene V

ContextThis line is from a portion of the play called: The Lovers’ Sonnet. Romeo is comparing kissing Juliet to having a religious experience. The word play between the two is spirited, romantic, and bittersweet since we know from the beginning of the play that these young lovers are doomed to a tragic end.

Discussion Questions

Foreshadowing is a technique writers use to hint about events to come later in a novel or play. What do you think Aldous Huxley might be foreshadowing by having John quote Romeo and Juliet upon first seeing Lenina?

Situational irony occurs when a reader knows more about what is happening in a scene than does a character. What is ironic about John (Romeo) comparing Lenina (Juliet) to a saint?

Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare“Is there no pity sitting in the clouds,

That sees into the bottom of my grief?

O sweet my mother, cast me not away:

Delay this marriage for a month, a week;

Or, if you do not, make the bridal bed

In that dim monument where Tybalt lies…”

Romeo and Juliet

Act III Scene V

ContextIn this heartbreaking scene, Juliet pleads with her mother not to force her into marriage with the much older Paris. Her mother is unaware that Juliet is secretly married to Romeo; therefore, she attributes her daughter’s misgivings to bridal jitters. Had she been able to forestall the marriage, Juliet might have avoided her untimely death.

Discussion Questions

This quote from Romeo and Juliet is used in Chapter 13 of Brave New World. John is sharing Shakespeare with Helmholtz. Of all of the citizens in the World Society, John has the most in common with Helmholtz Watson. What traits do both of these men share?

Helmholtz finds beauty in the words of Shakespeare, but scoffs at the situations related to emotional attachments as ludicrous. Why might John view Helmholtz’s criticism of Shakespeare to be a personal rejection?

The Tempest

Shakespeare

“How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is!

O, brave new world, that has such people in’t!”

The Tempest

ContextIn The Tempest, the character Miranda has lived most of her life on a magical island. She has only her father for a companion. The island is inhabited by half-human beasts. One day a handsome sailor washes ashore after being shipwrecked. He delights Miranda with stories of his land. It is in this context that the lines are spoken.

Discussion Questions

The first time John quotes Miranda’s lines from The Tempest is after meeting Bernard and Lenina. He has a child-like expectation of the World Society. What expectations do you think he has about this unseen world?

The second time John quotes Miranda is when he is raging at the World Society. “How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O, brave new world, that has such people in’t!” If you were John, which words would you emphasize in order to convey your disappointment and sarcasm?