Chapter 13, Brave New World

SUMMARY:

In this chapter, Fanny expresses her concern of Lenina’s obsession over one man
(John), after Lenina complains to her about declining an invitation to a feely by Henry.
After consuming Soma, Lenina visits John in an attempt to seduce him, while John
doesn’t immediately reciprocate, but instead quotes Shakespeare to express adoration.
She is shocked to hear John proclaiming ideas of marriage and lifelong commitments,
and when she tries to seduce him again by pressing her body against his, he recoils and
slaps her, before re-enacting King Lear’s tirade against women.

Parallelism
Lenina's attempted seduction of John parallels her seduction of Bernard, in which she
proves to be impatient and insensitive to Bernard's desire to take things slow and get to
know each other first. This impatience doesn't cause any real problems with Bernard,
but incites John to violence.

Intertextual Reference
The Shakespeare Rant