The Tempest Vs. Brave New Worl Essay, Research Paper
Although these two English works exist many centuries apart and use two different forms, William Shakespeare in The Tempest and Aldous Huxley in Brave New World, use style to explore the theme of the nature of men and sleep . What is sleep? The dictionary definition states sleep as the natural periodic suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored. But in these to pieces of literature, sleep brings on very different meanings. For instance, in Brave New World, a possible meaning for sleep could be John s life after he commits suicide or something as simple as a chance for the characters to get away for while, known as soma. However, in The Tempest , William Shakespeare could potentially have other hidden meanings in the sense of sleep such as the life activity of each character after death or he could be using sleep to symbolize a dream or illusion. Both Huxley and Shakespeare have underlying meanings of the many possibility that could portray sleep. Some which could contradict each other.
In our world soma would be sees as a drug and should not be used. Nevertheless as one of their hypnopaedic quotes says, they used to drink enormous quantities of alcohol . In other wards, they can t put up with their problems so they turn to a drug. It could release their stress, allow them to relax and seem like everything in the world is perfect. It s like a unrealistic life, just something to turn to. Our alcohol is their soma, except for the fact that soma has no side-effects. On the other hand, sleep could also represent John s life after he commits suicide. His entire life in the novel could have merely been a dream, and after he could no longer take it anymore he killed himself, returning back to his restless deep sleep.
Ariel places sleeps on random characters throughout the whole play. Perhaps all the happenings were purely a simple spell Ariel cast on the characters to create a false illusion to the reader. So therefore Shakespeare could be creating a whole new way to interpret ideas. Perhaps Prospero used mystery and significance when saying, We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and out little life is rounded with a sleep. This is inferring that sleep is the essence of life and all of the dreaming is placed on each of our lives to portray our life. Our lives, according to Shakespeare, aren t randomly played our day by day. It is call following a plot of a dream that was set on us to carry out individually.
The governments use similar tactics of sleep, with the purpose of keeping the majority in ignorance and submission in Brave New World, and The Tempest . Brave New World weakened their citizens with ignorance and silenced them with fear. They are sleep taught the rules of their society, so as to prevent them from ever producing thoughts that differed from those of the government. In The Tempest , they are as well under strict command because of the Controller. They do not have control over how they act. It is all in the hands of someone else with a bigger plan. Such as placing the characters to sleep and then playing with their lives. The inhabitants of Brave New World and The Tempest are indoctrinated, and brainwashed in their sleep.
Sleep: the natural periodic suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored. Huxley and Shakespeare portray sleep in many ways to help ore along the plot. This style in writing in Brave New World was put into play during John s life after he commits suicide and also a place for the characters to get away for awhile. But in The Tempest , Shakespeare uses sleep as the life s activity of each character after death or possibly just using sleep as an illusion. Either way, ignorance is pulled into both stories to brainwash the societies and let a controller be in rule. These two English pieces, with two opposite forms use style to support the theme of the nature of man and sleep . There are many underlying meanings or the word sleep which in some cases, the reader will never experience.