Episode 302: Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” Ch. 4-7

Listen to The Literary Life:

Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast and our series on Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Angelina Stanford, Thomas Banks, and Ella Hornstra open the conversation by sharing their commonplace quotes, then jump into the book discussion with some connections between Huxley and Lewis Carroll and how Brave New World is like Alice in Wonderland. Angelina also teaches about the medieval conception of the tripartite soul and how it relates to this story, as well as making some distinctions between literary satire and parody. They talk about more of the pictures of Freudian principles as illustrated in this society, as well as the way in which the characters live like machines. Ella goes into a little introductory information on Shakespeare’s The Tempest and its connections to Brave New World to keep in mind as we continue reading.

Don’t forget to check out this coming year’s annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, “The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human”. Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks.

Also, we are excited to announce the upcoming spring course with Dr. Michael Drout, Viking and Old Norse Culture. Learn more and register at HouseofHumaneLetters.com.

Commonplace Quotes:

His reign is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history; which is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

Edward Gibbon, from “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire“

The existence of nonsense is the nearest approach to a proof of that improvable article of faith whose truth we must all assume or perish miserably, that life is worth living.

Aldous Huxley, from “On the Margin“

It is easy for me to imagine that the next great division of the world will be between people who wish to live as creatures and people who wish to live as machines.

Wendell Berry

It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God but to create him.

Arthur C. Clarke

Books and Links:

Against the Machine by Paul Kingsnorth

2001: a Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

The Discarded Image by C. S. Lewis

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers

The Odyssey by Homer

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

from “Prayer Before Birth”

by Louis Macneice

I am not yet born, console me.
I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me,
with strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me,
on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me.

I am not yet born; provide me
With water to dandle me, grass to grow for me, trees to talk
to me, sky to sing to me, birds and a white light
in the back of my mind to guide me.

I am not yet born; forgive me
For the sins that in me the world shall commit, my words
when they speak to me, my thoughts when they think me,
my treason engendered by traitors beyond me,
my life when they murder by means of my
hands, my death when they live me.

I am not yet born; rehearse me
In the parts I must play and the cues I must take when
old men lecture me, bureaucrats hector me, mountains
frown at me, lovers laugh at me, the white
waves call me to folly and the desert calls
me to doom and the beggar refuses
my gift and my children curse me.

I am not yet born; O hear me,
Let not the man who is beast or who thinks he is God
come near me.

Support The Literary Life:

Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support!

Connect with Us:

You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/

Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let’s get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

Subscribe to The Lit Life: