Now I get it! This is the reason behind the title of the Huxley's novel. When John states, "Oh brave new world," he is referencing Miranda's speech in the Shakespearean play The Tempest. Miranda, after seeing men for the first time in her entire life, says these same words. The irony behind it is that she is not seeing men acting civilized but rather drunken men staggering off the wreckage of their boat. As the reader, one can only believe that what John finds in this new world will only disappoint him. He believes it will be something more special than it truly is. Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Oh Brave New World!
"Oh brave new world," he repeated. "Oh brave new world that has such people in it. Let's start at once." - Brave New World, page 139
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Now I get it! This is the reason behind the title of the Huxley's novel. When John states, "Oh brave new world," he is referencing Miranda's speech in the Shakespearean play The Tempest. Miranda, after seeing men for the first time in her entire life, says these same words. The irony behind it is that she is not seeing men acting civilized but rather drunken men staggering off the wreckage of their boat. As the reader, one can only believe that what John finds in this new world will only disappoint him. He believes it will be something more special than it truly is.
The last sentence of the chapter is of Bernard telling John, " And, anyhow, hadn't you better wait till you actually see the new world?" This is a sort of foreshadowing that puts emphasis on the idea that John really has no idea what he is in for. Things are going to be very different from what he expected and John is going to be astonished at what he will find in the new world.
Now I get it! This is the reason behind the title of the Huxley's novel. When John states, "Oh brave new world," he is referencing Miranda's speech in the Shakespearean play The Tempest. Miranda, after seeing men for the first time in her entire life, says these same words. The irony behind it is that she is not seeing men acting civilized but rather drunken men staggering off the wreckage of their boat. As the reader, one can only believe that what John finds in this new world will only disappoint him. He believes it will be something more special than it truly is. 
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As I first read this I was unsure of where John was getting this quote. It was later in the book when Miranda was referenced for those words that it became clear to me. I think there is a sort of parallelism between the use of the words in both scenarios. In The Tempest, the men are not acting as they usually would and in Brave New World, Bernard is not seen as like most other men. Both Miranda and John first receive a false notion about what they are about to see.
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