“Huxley’s BNW: The Early Bourgeois Dystopia.” The Dystopian Impulse in Modern Literature: Fiction as Social Criticism, Greenwood Press, 1994, pp. Rather, it is important to think critically about all forms of art we consume, in whatever form they may come.īooker, M. It is not as simple as classifying art into categories such as high and low art. Ultimately, art reflects the social context in which it was created, and all art has the power to consume and influence. Yet in comparison, John is unable to think critically about the Shakespearian texts he has consumed which leads to a misalignment between his expectations and the societies of both the World State and the Savage Reservation. For example, John the Savage is not drawn into the Feely in the same way as Lenina, and he is able to think critically about what he is viewing and form independent opinions. All art has the power to influence, and this influence is not necessarily positive or negative, it depends on the knowledge of the consumer and the context in which it is consumed.

Yet the comparison is not as simple as saying high art such as Shakespeare is good and low art like the Feelies is bad. Thus, the Feelies serve as a form of propaganda as they work to reinforce the World States values.

The Feelies are so all consuming that the viewer is completely drawn in and guided on how to feel in each moment, leaving little room for independent thought (Their 338). WITH SYNCHRONIZED SCENT-ORGAN ACCOMPANIMENT” (Huxley 145). The Feely Lenina and John attend is described as “AN ALL-SUPER-SINGING, SYNTHETIC-TALKING, COLOURED, STEREOSCOPIC FEELY. Huxley, like many other critics, believed the sound cinema was a step back from the silent cinema due to “the confusion of sight and sound” (Frost 457). The Feely is a critique on popular culture and the sound cinema which had recently been introduced, replacing the silent cinema (Frost 451). However, the people of the World State still seek entertainment, and so Huxley has replaced the high art of Shakespeare with the Feelies, a type cinema which is portrayed as a comparatively low art. Thus, works of high art such as Shakespeare have been banned for fear that they might incite social unrest (Booker 58). The Controllers of the World State understand that in order for art to have meaning, it needs emotions, feelings, and/or tragedy, all of which counteract World States motto of “Community, Stability, Identity” (Huxley 1). In order to preserve social stability, art is heavily censored within the World State because it is “incompatible with happiness” (Huxley 198).

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