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Give Aldous Huxley’s key dates
‘Brave New World’ Context

List the main contextual factors
which influenced Huxley's 'Brave
New World'
‘Brave New World’ Context

Explain why there was wide-spread
disillusionment in the 1920s
‘Brave New World’ Context

List some visible manifestations of
the wide-spread disillusionment
of the 1920s
‘Brave New World’ Context

• Born 1894 and died in 1963
• ‘Brave New World’ was published in
1932

• Wide-spread disillusionment in 1920s,
post-WWI and the Russian Revolution
• Huxley’s own life
• Development of mass culture
• Wide-spread enthusiasm for eugenics
• Class divisions between wars
• However, some key features of life
between the wars are notably absent
• Over 8 million were killed in WWI; more
than 13 million if consequences included
e
...
Russian Revolution and epidemics
which ravaged Europe in war's aftermath
• Colossal suffering appeared to have
achieved very little and in eyes of some of
people, ideals which politicians and other
members of the establishment had used to
justify the war became discredited
• Many of younger generation were cynical and
ready to ignore old-fashioned morality of elders
and embrace new forms of behaviour
• Church membership went into steep decline
• Women increasingly smoked/drank in public
• Art and science challenged notions/customs
previously taken for granted
• The book’s depiction of promiscuity, drugtaking and the replacement of religion by
partying was satirising Huxley's own period

Describe some of the ways in which
1920s art and science challenged
notions and customs previously
taken for granted
‘Brave New World’ Context

Describe some features of life between
the wars that are notably absent from
'Brave New World'
‘Brave New World’ Context

Give some contextual information
about the development of mass culture between the wars
‘Brave New World’ Context

Explain why both left-wing and rightwing intellectuals were critical of
1920s mass culture
‘Brave New World’ Context

• European music challenged by
exuberant sound of US Jazz, which
brought light-tempo dances like the
Charleston
• 'Modernist' innovations, e
...
Einstein's
theory of relativity, Freudian psychology
and Surrealist art challenged previously
accepted customs
• World Economic collapse (15% of British workers unemployed when book was 1st published);
• 1 consequence of this was the rise of totalitarian states such as Fascist Italy and Germany
• Huxley’s only mention of this is Mond's brief
reference to the 'great Economic Collapse' and
‘'the Nine Years' War'; these are features of the
20thC that the World State is designed to
eliminate and the book's focus is on price that
might have to be paid for that elimination

• 'High' and 'low' cultures remained distinct
between wars; intellectuals might be
prepared to admire folk-culture of
pre-industrial times, but hesitant about
finding value in commercially-produced, USinfluenced popular culture of their own day
- made by capitalists for profit
• Both left wing and right wing intellectuals
were critical of mass culture
• Left-wing circles regarded mass culture as
propaganda and distraction, designed to
stimulate false needs and prevent common
people from thinking and feeling for
themselves
• Right-wing tradition saw mass culture as
a standardised set of products designed for
an unenlightened majority who were incapable of appreciating serious classic work

Give some examples from 'Brave New
World' which reflect the inter-war
development of mass culture
‘Brave New World’ Context

Describe the influence of inter-war
class divisions on Huxley's 'Brave New
World', giving specific examples
‘Brave New World’ Context

Give some contextual information
about eugenics
‘Brave New World’ Context

Describe the ideas set out in
‘The Science of Life’
‘Brave New World’ Context

• Intellectuals’ dismissal of mass culture is
evident in Huxley's depiction of recreational
activities, e
...
'Obstacle golf' and 'Riemannsurface tennis' satirise growing popularity of
sports such as tennis, golf and motoring
• The increased circulation of working class
newspapers is mocked in 'The Delta Mirror' • •
• Cinema, broadcasting and dance halls are
targeted in the 'feelies' and the 'Westminster
Abbey Cabaret'
• His earlier writings have been accused of
treating ordinary people in a way that is snobbish, stereotypical and patronising
• Repeated depiction of World State's population
as 'maggots' and 'lice', portrayal of Deltas as
repulsive clones and dismissal of Epsilons as ape
-like morons may be intended as a warning
caricature of how mass society could degrade
humans, but could also be evidence of an
underlying contempt for ordinary people
• Scientific planning of human breeding to
improve health of future generations
• Research into eugenics was often crude and
unreliable and it wasn't possible to use eugenics
in positive way (to assist creation of healthier
humans) only negatively (to prevent breeding of
those judged by people in authority to be
inferior, e
...
epileptics)
• E
...
'The Science of Life' (1930) written by
H
...
Wells and Julian Huxley (Aldous’ brother)

• Praised the sterilisation of thousands of
'mental defectives' in the USA;
• Though against 'harshness and brutality'
in the implementation of negative eugenics,
they accepted that there was a lower-class
group who represented 'pockets of evil germ
plasm' and who might be 'bribed or
otherwise persuaded to accept voluntary
sterilisation'

Summarise the main features of
Huxley's life that had an influence
upon 'Brave New World' (part 1)
‘Brave New World’ Context

Summarise the main features of
Huxley's life that had an influence
upon 'Brave New World' (part 2)
‘Brave New World’ Context

Why did Huxley become a pacifist, and
what was the significance of this?
‘Brave New World’ Context

Explain the significance of Huxley's
move to California, and describe his
life in America
‘Brave New World’ Context

• Born (in 1894) into a family renowned for its
contributions to science and literature
• 1908: started Eton and mother died of cancer
(link: John experiences dreadful feelings of
guilt about his mother's death that no-one can
understand)
• 1914: tried to enlist but rejected because of
eyesight; his brother Trevenen committed suicide by hanging (echoed in ‘Brave New World’
with John's death)
• Pre-’Brave New World’ (1932) Huxley was
predominantly a satirist, mocking the futility of
modern civilisation, but after it he sought to be
something of a prophet, offering constructive
solutions to humanity's problems
• Initially supported the Great War, but
afterwards became a pacifist
•
• 1937: moved to California
• Died in 1963; asked his wife to inject him with
LSD on deathbed

• He became disillusioned, first by the nature
of WWI and then by the terms of the peace
settlement
• His advocacy of non-violence became unacceptable to many of his readers once Germany
began to invade other nations and the prospect of WWII grew nearer; it also made his
move to California controversial - he seemed
to be running away from enemies of freedom
• It was controversial; he moved to the very
place whose mass culture and vulgarity he had
so often mocked in his essays and novels
• He lived in Hollywood and tried to make
money writing film scripts
• He pursued interest in mysticism and Hindu
teaching, seeking to reconcile insights of
Eastern spiritual thought with Western science,
eventually advocating use of hallucinogenic
drugs as a help in attaining enlightenment



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