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.Īn example is Oswald from King Lear, who mercilessly does everything that Goneril demands him in hopes of being rewarded by gaining her favour. From a modern day’s point-of-view, the unloving characters and society of both literary works is corrupt and rotten that leads to inner disaster. The definition of this “infantile behaviour” can also be seen through Lear and Gloucester’s actions of manipulation, laziness, and selfish desires. The World State to escape reality and misery, much like how Lear tries to use his daughters to escape his responsibilities.īecause of the World State’s impaired set of values, the society is composed of a lack of control and “infantile behaviour”, says one of the protagonists, named Bernard. Furthermore, in destructive use of soma is used by This is a form of destruction in itself.įor 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 Goneril and Regan lusts over Edmund when they have their own husbands. 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. Although Lear does not take any physical drugs, he is mentally drugged by his own ignorance and selfishness. With Lear, it is the banishment of Cordelia, clearly a misjudgment, as well as the betrayal from his two remaining daughters that leads to his own descent into madness. The results of the unlovingness is tragic. 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. 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. In King Lear, a lost sense of love can be identified with several characters.įirst, because of Lear’s failure to love, he tries to manipulate his daughters by conducting a love test. Love is an important component of living out a worthwhile life “life without love, is no life at all”, quotes Leonardo da Vinci. Through these two tragic literary pieces, both authors effectively deliver the message that downfall can be caused by characters’ unlovingness, the evil that comes with it, and the effects of poor family relationships. 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.įinally, Shakespeare and Huxley show the audience the importance of a healthy family and relationships through Edmund from King Lear and the unethical society in Brave New World. They do not hesitate to hurt others to achieve what they want. Furthermore, both works show consequences of various ungrateful, hollow characters that deceive others with “kind” deeds. 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. Lear and Gloucester show the tragic results of non-genuine love. In both literary works, there is an ongoing display of the lack of true love that characters possess, which results in tragedies. Despite the contextual differences however, there exists copious quantity of similarities through the display of themes. While King Lear occurs back many centuries, Brave New World takes place in a time hundreds of years in the future. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New world and Shakespeare’s King Lear, a large difference in time and context exists.
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