Discussion Topic

Helmholtz's perspective on Shakespeare in "Brave New World."

Summary:

Helmholtz views Shakespeare's works as magnificent and powerful but also as a source of frustration. He recognizes the emotional depth and beauty in Shakespeare's writing, which starkly contrasts with the shallow, controlled society he lives in. However, Helmholtz struggles to fully appreciate or create similar works due to the limitations imposed by his society.

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How does Helmholtz explain Shakespeare's success in "Brave New World"?

In chapter 12 , Helmholtz was in trouble for sharing a rhyme with his class; the rhyme was challenging the student’s conditioning. He narrated the rhyme to John who thought it better to share his own version through reading Romeo and Juliet for Helmholtz. At first Helmholtz was intrigued by the level of artistry being conveyed but as the poem went on and the issue of mothers, fathers and lovers was introduced, the poem became hilarious. At first he asserted that Shakespeare was very good in his writing and nothing in their time compares. However, when John read the third act, Helmholtz was unable to restrain himself and cut the poem reading short. To him it did not make sense that the parents were choosing a lover for Juliet and Juliet was not at liberty to inform them of her choice. He then goes ahead to explain why Shakespeare is...

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successful, and he stated that it is because the man was exposed to emotions and relationship attachments and that it is these aspects that helped him come up with highly effective phrases.

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In Chapter 12 of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Helmholtz Watson, an emotional engineer who writes political and social verses to promote the political philosophy of the New World and pacify people, feels dissatisfied in his writing. So, when John the Savage reads Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a play written in blank verse replete with beautiful metaphors, similes, imagery, and other literary devices, Helmholtz is charmed, especially after listening to the famous balcony scene of Act II. He tells John that the verbal detail is a "superb piece of emotional engineering." 

The emotional language of Romeo and Juliet is what Helmholtz finds fascinating.  He understands that Shakespeare is such a "marvellous propaganda machine" because he had so many "insane, excruciating things to get excited about."  People must be hurt and angered and upset; otherwise, they cannot have such "x-rayish phrases" as those that Shakespeare can employ.  The New World does not have these.  No one could possibly be that upset about a girl or a boy.  Helmholtz wonders what he could use to arouse such emotion, 

"I don't know," he said at last, "I don't  know."
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In Brave New World, what is Helmholtz's opinion of Shakespeare?

To start with, let’s establish some background found in Chapter 12 of Brave New World. Helmholtz reveals to his friend Bernard that Helmholtz himself got in trouble with the authorities for sharing his original verse about solitude as he lectured a class on  “the Use of Rhymes in Moral Propaganda and Advertisement.” The trouble, of course, came from the fact that Helmholtz writes about solitute. Here we learn that Helmholtz appreciates the power of rhyme to convince, and that he aspires to write verse himself.

Helmholtz, to Bernard’s dismay and jealously, bonds immediately with the Savage when Bernard introduces the two; the Savage returns Helmholtz's admiration. On the occasion of their third meeting, Helmholtz shares his original rhymes with the Savage, and this is where we learn that Helmholtz greatly admires Shakespeare’s poetry. As the Savage shares Shakespeare’s poem, “The Phoenix and the Turtle,” Huxley writes that:


Helmholtz listened with a growing excitement. At "sole Arabian tree" he started; at "thou shrieking harbinger" he smiled with sudden pleasure; at "every fowl of tyrant wing" the blood rushed up into his cheeks; but at "defunctive music" he turned pale and trembled with an unprecedented emotion.


Bernard, jealous of the bonding between the Savage and Helmholtz, bursts out with “Orgy Porgy.”  Bernard further uses outbursts like this to interrupt the Savage and Helmholtz when they share their admiration for poetic readings. We can see that Helmholtz enjoys these readings because he “...threatened to kick [Bernard] out of the room if he dared to interrupt again.”

Huxley writes about Helmholtz's reaction to Shakespeare that Helmholtz thinks Shakespeare is a master at propaganda:


...taken detail by verbal detail, what a superb piece of emotional engineering! "That old fellow," [Helmholtz] said, "he makes our best propaganda technicians look absolutely silly."


We can see that as the Savage shares more of Shakespeare’s writing by reading Romeo and Juliet, that Helmholtz admires Shakespeare’s ability and craft. He does not, however, admire or understand the romantic love or family relationships. Helmholtz himself interrupts the Savage’s reading of the scene in Romeo & Juliet when Juliet despairs about marrying Paris. "Helmholtz broke out in an explosion of uncontrollable guffawing."

The Savage is so offended by Helmholtz’s behavior that he puts his book away. Helmholtz apologizes for his laughter, but he clearly cannot identify with the mothers and fathers in R&J, nor about “...who's going to get excited about a boy having a girl or not having her?"

Thus, Shakespeare’s craft, the writing itself, is what Helmholtz admires, but he cannot understand the content and the relationships in Shakespeare's story.

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