Aldous Huxley’s title for the novel comes from Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.

Prospero, once the Duke of Milan, is deposed by his brother Antonio. Prospero and his two-year-old daughter are abandoned in a small boat at sea. They find an island to live on. Miranda grows up to be a lovely young woman who has no knowledge of the world. Her father uses his power as a magician to create a storm that brings a boat carrying his old enemies to the island so he can punish them for his exile.

Two supernatural characters become Prospero’s slaves on the island: Caliban, the deformed and base son of a dead witch, and Ariel, a spiritual being who had been imprisoned by Caliban’s mother. These are the only other two beings Miranda had known. When Miranda sees the various men who have come to the island, she says, “O Brave New World.” Prospero, who has worldly experience, replies, “Tis new to thee.”

The play is judged to have been written in 1610–1611 and shows the inner nature of human beings revealed in crisis and change.

Throughout the novel, John the Savage is drawn to two plays of Shakespeare’s: Romeo and Juliet and Othello. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of two young lovers. Juliet is a beautiful, virginal fourteen-year-old. Romeo is the handsome teenage son of the Montague family, sworn enemies of the Capulets, Juliet’s family. Romeo sneaks into a Capulet party. When he and Juliet see each other, they instantly fall in love. They secretly marry with the help of Friar Laurence. After spending their wedding night together, Romeo becomes entangled in a feud between the members of both families and kills a Capulet cousin. He is banished from Verona, and Juliet’s parents betroth her to another man, unaware of her secret marriage. Friar Laurence mixes a potion to put Juliet into a death-like sleep so Romeo can come to the family tomb and take her away. Various problems ensue and Romeo does not receive the plan. He comes to the Capulet family tomb to mourn his beloved, takes poison, and dies beside her. Juliet awakens to find her dead husband and kills herself with his dagger. Thus, they become victims of fate and their star-crossed lives.

The other play is Othello, a story of jealousy and betrayal. Othello is a Moorish general who has come up through the ranks in the army of Venice. He elopes with Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian senator. Despite the fact that he is an outsider in his society because of his race and his less-than-noble birth, he and his wife are happy in the beginning. Othello’s aide, Iago, hates and envies the general and feels slighted. He remains in Othello’s service for the express purpose of destroying him. Using various innocent situations, Iago manages to convince Othello that his wife is in an adulterous affair with another officer. Many of Iago’s speeches contain very explicit and degrading sexual language to create rage and jealousy in Othello’s mind. Finally, in a fit of rage, Othello smothers Desdemona in their bed with her pillow. Othello then dies by suicide. There is a constant violation of trust throughout the play which upsets the characters and the society around them. The sacrifice of the major characters restores that balance.

Utopian literature has carved a significant niche in Western literary tradition, with authors like Homer, Plato, Dante, Sir Thomas More, Jonathan Swift, Voltaire, and H.G. Wells engaging in the exploration of ideal societies. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World stands as a notable successor within this lineage, though with a radical departure: a skeptical view of science and advanced learning. For Huxley, the future was fraught with peril. He envisioned that should scientific advancement remain unchecked by prudent social and political governance, it could become a vehicle for totalitarian regimes, offering them unprecedented control over the populace.

Distinctively, Huxley’s novel surpasses many of its predecessors in literary merit, characterized by refined prose and a profound psychological depth absent in works like Wells's Men Like Gods or Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward. While Huxley is intellectually serious, he remains primarily a novelist, imbuing Brave New World with storytelling artistry.

In recent years, the genre of dystopian literature, depicting negative utopias, has garnered increased critical attention. Even H.G. Wells, often optimistic about scientific progress, ventured into this realm with The Sleeper Awakes. The Soviet author Eugene Zamiatin offered a haunting precursor to life under Stalin’s totalitarianism in his novel We, while Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale continues this exploration of dark futures. Cinema, too, has embraced dystopian themes, ranging from Charlie Chaplin’s satirical Modern Times to Stanley Kubrick’s unsettling A Clockwork Orange and Terry Gilliam's terrifying Brazil. As the century draws to a close, the appetite for both utopian and dystopian narratives appears insatiable.

Huxley’s prowess in Brave New World lies in his inventive construction of a technologically advanced society. Features like Soma, the "feelies," and the Hatchery and Conditioning centers underscore a world that feels achingly plausible against the backdrop of modern technology. His narrative deftly balances governmental control and human unpredictability, highlighting how even engineered societies cannot fully erase inherent human traits.

Delving deeper, Brave New World speaks to the theme of individualism. The novel paints a grim picture of a society where the loss of individuality leads to a stultifying sameness. Huxley feared that the technological strides, while making life comfortable, could homogenize human character, emphasizing mass production over personal distinctiveness. This concern echoed the ambivalence of his Victorian predecessors, who celebrated progress yet remained wary of unbridled scientific expansion. Huxley's narrative serves as a cautionary tale, urging vigilance against central political control and the unbridled growth of science.

Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" paints a vision of a dystopian future, where society is meticulously organized into various administrative districts and dominated by technological advancements. Within this structured world, locations range from the industrial Central London Hatchery to the isolated New Mexico Savage Reservation, each serving a distinct purpose in the narrative.

Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre

At the heart of Huxley’s futuristic society lies the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. This expansive facility, with its four thousand rooms, is where London’s new citizens are created. Life begins in the Fertilizing Room, and the journey continues through a series of specialized rooms, each contributing to the careful orchestration of human development. The Hatchery is a cornerstone of Huxley's critique, reflecting the mechanization of human life akin to Henry Ford’s assembly line and Frederick Taylor’s efficiency theories.

Fleet Street and Westminster Abbey

Once a bustling hub for British journalism, Fleet Street in the year A.F. 632 houses the Bureau of Propaganda, integrating various media forms and serving as a center for emotional manipulation. Similarly, Westminster Abbey, a historic church, transforms into a cabaret amid towering apartments. These transformations illustrate the novel’s theme of cultural erosion and the commodification of sacred spaces.

New Mexico Savage Reservation

In stark contrast to the controlled environments of London, the New Mexico Savage Reservation offers a glimpse into a world left behind by Fordism. Spanning 560,000 square kilometers, this reservation is a place for those who cling to traditional ways, surrounded by electrified fences that demarcate the boundaries of "civilized" society.

Eton and Park Lane Hospital for the Dying

Eton, an enduring institution in this futuristic society, remains a symbol of traditional education amidst the transformation of its surroundings into a modern quadrangle dominated by a statue of Our Ford. Meanwhile, the Park Lane Hospital for the Dying, located next to Hyde Park, serves as a place where death is treated as a natural, albeit managed, part of life. Its primrose-colored tiled exterior masks the indifferent efficiency with which society handles mortality.

Cyprus and the Lighthouse

The island of Cyprus is significant as the site of an ill-fated social experiment, where Alphas attempted to govern themselves without the support of lower-caste individuals. This endeavor ended in disaster, demonstrating the novel’s commentary on societal interdependence. Similarly, the lighthouse in Surrey stands as a symbol of futile resistance, where John the Savage seeks solitude from society, only to find himself overwhelmed by the pervasive reach of Huxley’s world.