Shakespearean Allusions - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Shakespearean Allusions

Brave New WorldSlide2

HAMLET

Shakespeare

Nay, but to liveIn the rank sweat of an

enseamed

bed,

Stew’d

in corruption, honeying and making loveOver 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. Slide3

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? Slide4

HAMLET

Shakespeare

“When he is drunk asleep, or in his rageOr in the incestuous pleasure of his bed

…”

Hamlet Act III Scene 3

Context

Hamlet 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. Slide5

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. Slide6

HAMLET

Shakespeare

I should have fatted all the region’s

kites

With this slave's offal. Bloody, bawdy villain!

Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous,

kindless villain!

O, vengeance!

Hamlet Act II Scene ii

Context

This 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. Slide7

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? Slide8

Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare

If I

profane with my

unworthiest

hand

This holy shrine, the gentler sin is this:

My lips, two pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss

.

Romeo and Juliet

Act I Scene V

Context

This 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. Slide9

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? Slide10

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

Context

In

t

his 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. Slide11

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? Slide12

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

Context

In

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. Slide13

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?