Brave New World Podcasts

A bringing together of the various threads from this module of work - mainly looking at the way sex is represented in the text and what Huxley is using it for in terms of his wider intentions.

Huxley makes frequent connection between sex and violence in his text. This presentation examines a number of those incidents and explores why Huxley might have wanted to develop such explicit connections between pleasure and pain.

A discussion of issues that go beyond the text and Huxley's broader intentions. This presentation looks at how events in the novel connect to very modern issues, outside of Huxley's immediate awareness. By investigating the relationship between John and Lenina, we can find resonances of modern issues around consent - keeping the novel meaningful and relevant well beyond its own time.

An exploration of Chapter Five. Providing a close reading of this event as a means of exploring how Huxley creates a comic, yet disturbing quasi-religious ceremony to further alienate us from the World State and assist us in seeing its fundamental inhumanity.

A recount of what we looked at during a specific lesson. Considerations of the connection between religion and art and how art might replace religion in a society completely disconnected from religion.

An exploration of the how character foil can provide some insight into the power and impact art has. John's ability to express through art is countered by Helmholtz's comparative inability to express. Conclusions about what Huxley is saying can then be drawn.

A really brief, broad overviewof some ideas surrounding  the purpose of modern art and the kinds of art that were surrounding Huxley when he was creating his novel. These attitudes could be seen as an influence in terms of how Huxley treats art throughout his novel.

The conclusion of the discussion around what art might do, what was going on with art around Huxley's time and what this might have to do with how we treat the novel.

Introduction to a different literary technique: the character foil. Then a discussion of how John works as a foil and the relationship between Bernard and John.

Discussion and analysis of Huxley's choice to make strong connections between John and biblical imagery, particularly Christ imagery. Also, some thinking around how John's spirituality might tell us something about the meaning of life.

John uses Shakespeare a lot as a means of understanding people, places, situations, experiences and his own feelings. This presentation explores that and discusses why this is important to an analysis of the text.

An analysis of John's relationship with the reader, as well as an examination of how this relationship manipulates the reader into a general dislike for the World State.

A more general analysis of what we learn about John in Chapter 8, plus a run down of important changes that happen in his character once he's brought back to the World State.