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In Aloud Huxley Brave New world and Shakespearean King Lear, a large difference in time and context exists. While King Lear occurs back many centuries, Brave New World takes place in a time hundreds of years in the future. Despite the contextual differences however, there exists copious quantity of similarities through the display of themes. In both literary works, there is an ongoing display of the lack of true love that characters possess, which results in tragedies. Lear and Gloucester show the tragic results of non-genuine love.
Similarly, In Brave New World, there exists a selfish totalitarian government that forces the society to be absent of love and passion– resulting in a meaningless society which is a tragedy in itself. Furthermore, both works show consequences of various ungrateful, hollow characters that deceive others with “kind” deeds. They do not hesitate to hurt others to achieve what they want. This theme that people are not what they seem is well portrayed through the evil adventures of Oswald in King Lear, and the characters of Bernard In Brave New World.
Finally, Shakespeare and Huxley show the audience the Importance of a lately family and relationships through Edmund from King Lear and the unethical society in Brave New World. Through these two tragic literary pieces, both authors effectively deliver the message that downfall can be caused by characters’ unwillingness, the evil that comes with it, and the effects of poor family relationships. Love Is an Important component of living out a worthwhile life; “life without love, Is no life at all”, quotes Leonardo dad Vinci. In King Lear, a lost sense of love can be identified with several characters.
First, because of Learns failure to love, he tries to manipulate his daughters by conducting a love test. Likewise, in Brave New World, the heads of the government (called World State, which is ruled by Ford) also do not value true love and attempts to destroy all kinds of “human” truths, such as family, friendship, personal connections. This is accomplished when they manipulate the society by enslaving them with the science of “conditioning’ (In other words, brainwashing), and Intoxicating the population a type of drug called soma.
The results of the unwillingness Is tragic. With Lear, It Is the banishment of Cornelia, Leary a misjudgment, as well as the betrayal from his two remaining daughters that leads to his own descent into madness. Although Lear does not take any physical drugs, he is mentally drugged by his own ignorance and selfishness. Next, it is true that the society of Brave New World seems to be happy and comfortable, but nobody is challenged nor living a purposeful life. This Is a form of destruction In itself.
For example, the society treats sex as a simple commodity that can be enjoyed by children and friends, this shortage of self-control is much like how Gloucester of King Lear proudly admits to cheating on his wife in the early stages of the play, or how General and Reagan lusts over Edmund when they have their own husbands. Furthermore, in destructive use of soma is used by the World State to escape reality and misery, much like how Lear tries to use his daughters to escape his composed of a lack of control and “infantile behavior”, says one of the protagonists, named Bernard.
The definition of this “infantile behavior” can also be seen through Lear and Gloucester actions of manipulation, laziness, and selfish desires. From a odder days point-of-view, the unloving characters and society of both literary works is corrupt and rotten that leads to inner disaster. In both King Lear and Brave New World, there are deceptive characters who are not what they seem, and use others to their own advantage. An example is Oswald from King Lear, who mercilessly does everything that General demands him in hopes of being rewarded by gaining her favor.
He is like Bernard in Brave New World, who is a physically inadequate “Alpha-male” compared to every other Alpha, the highest rank of their social caste, and consistently seeks popularity. To readers, he is considered good for his unorthodoxy and rebellion against the World State. With Oswald, he seems like a loyal servant under General. However, Oswald shows that he is only loyal to himself. He is convinced when Reagan hints that he will be rewarded, to agree to help Reagan to kill Gloucester in Act 4. When he finally finds Gloucester, he outwardly exclaims, “A proclaimed prize! Most happy!
That eyeless head of thin was first framed flesh… ” (V, v’, 217). Like Oswald cruel intentions, Bernard blackmails Linda and John, the wife and son of the Director, respectively, by bringing them out of heir village back into World State to scrutiny. Because he brings them back, his previously appointed deportation is abandoned, and he is glad to gain female popularity because of his association with the “desirable” John. Bernard is satisfied at his gain of social status, and quickly abandons his grand passion of unorthodoxy and rebellion; he ends up blending in rather than making a change.
It is true that these two cunning characters have climbed up the social ladder, but is it really worth it? In order to sustain a strong society, it must include individual families with quality renting and relationships. Without these components, the population would begin to falter. In both King Lear and Brave New World, the authors show the corruption that follows broken/non-existent families. In King Lear, Gloucester does not demonstrate good parenthood. The bastard Edmund listens as his father speaks to Kent, “There was good sport at his making, and the whereon must be acknowledged. (l, I, 20) Instead of loving and tending his nonetheless son, he makes jokes about sleeping with his accidental mother. Edmund and this recurring experience has made him into a vengeful monster. Like Edmund, the characters of Brave New World do not experience parental or family love, because they have been made illegal by the government. Mustache Mood, one of the government leaders explains that with a family, people will have to “feel strongly’, or else, “how could they [the society] be stable? Since people do not have parents or family in the first place, they require a substitute to compensate their needs. As a result, they are fed through hypnotism to be thrilled with their lifestyle, and with drugs (called soma) to escape truth, and are encouraged to have sex with as many people as possible. This is called “infantile behavior”, Bernard says in chapter four. What the government does not know is that every child must have emotional attachments with a parent to and intimacy, Edmund finds himself desiring a higher social rank and plots against Gloucester and Edgar.
One could say that Edmund may have been evil to begin with, but Shakespeare clearly pinpoints the reason for his evil, that is at his own social identity and his father’s dearth parenthood. If Gloucester treated him with more kindness, Edmund likely would have not begun to resent him. Likewise, if World State allowed families to persist, and if people were allowed to feel natural emotions, such corrupt and “infantile behavior” would not exist.
Shakespeare and Huxley have both written tragedies that teach memorable lessons. Without genuine love, comes manipulation and chaos, which is shown through Learns love test, Gloucester unfaithfulness to his wife, as well as the World State’s defiled society. They both show the importance for understanding what true love is. Through Oswald and Bernard, the authors show the possibility of evil in every individual, and that it is important to discern their intentions before trusting them.
Like Oswald subsistence to killing Gloucester, Bernard seems to have done a great thing for Linda and John by bringing them back to World State, except both characters’ motives are for their own social status. Finally, the importance of family and relationships is shown through the negativity of the World State and the broken relationship between Edmund and his father. The two literary works prove to have similar themes and morals for readers to grasp, and have both done tremendously in delivering their message.