Shakespeare & Brave New World

Apparently I live and breathe Shakespeare at this point in my college education, and more specifically I live and breathe Hamlet. So that is fun. Anyway, in chapter 8, specifically page 123, of Brave New World, John is given a book. Popé gives him The Complete Works of Shakespeare and John opens it to a random page and reads the following lines, "Nay, but to live / In the rank sweat of an endeared bed, / Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love / Over the nasty sty..." This is from Act 3 scene 4 of Hamlet. This is where Hamlet is talking to his mother, Queen Gertrude, about her love life with his uncle, Claudius, and why it should stop. I have talked and thought about Hamlet more in the last month of my life than anyone ever should. But anyway, the way this is incorporated into the novel is interesting. Since the World State has done everything they can to destroy anything art related in order to maintain stability, Shakespeare represents going against that. Fighting the attempt to destroy literature and art over all. John also seems to have a connection to the words he reads. Even the few lines he randomly opened to say that they "rolled through his mind; rumbled, like the drums at the summer dances" (Huxley 123). It also goes on to mention that it is like the words are speaking to him, though only half understood, it is a connection he has not felt before. On page 124 John goes on to explain that he hates Popé, and that he wants to kill him. Ironically, in Hamlet, Hamlet wants to kill his uncle. This is more of a revenge situation, so it is a little different than Johns situation, but still relatable. John reads the lines, “When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage / Or in the in estrous pleasure of his bed...” These are the lines where Hamlet is talking about when to kill Claudius. John believes that the words are magic, talking to him, and telling him that killing Popé is a good idea. This shows the power of words, specifically Shakespeares words, but also literature in general. I found this to be very intriguing and so I wanted to write about it. And since Shakespeare and Hamlet have been my life for the last month or so, why not write more about them? Also here is a Shakespeare/Hamlet related meme for you all. :)