The
Scenerio
Prologue
John
the Savage, dissappointed with the unhuman happinness philospophy of
the World State and isolated from the society in an abandoned
lighthouse outside London, reflects on his life and the time he spent
in the Empire of Ford. An interview with the reporter of the World
State radio who visits John in his shelter brings back John‘s
bitter memories of his romantic ideals broken by the cynicism and
rationalism of the World State civilisation. He struggles to come to
terms with his tragic love to Lenina Crown and the death of his
mother. John’s frustration explodes in a self-destructive act –
he kicks the reporter and, stripped to the waist, he hits himself
with a whip of knotted cords. The images of the last weeks he spent
in the World State become vivid and tangible in his head.
Act
1 : The Introduction
The
Opera opens in London in 632 (AD 2540). The vast majority of the
population is unified under the World State, an eternally peaceful,
stable global society in which goods and resources are plentiful and
everyone is happy. Natural reproduction has been eliminated and
children are artificially created, and raised in Hatcheries and
Conditioning Centres, where they are divided into five Castes, Alpha,
Beta, Gamma, Delta,
and Epsilon
and genetically designed to fulfil predetermined positions within the
social and economic strata of the World State. Each 'Alpha' or
'Beta' is the product of one unique fertilized egg developing into
one unique fetus. Members of lower castes, Gammas, Deltas and
Epsilons, are not unique but are instead genetically cloned which
enables a single egg to spawn up to 96 children and one ovary to
produce thousands of children. People of these castes make up the
majority of human society, and the production of such specialised
children bolsters the efficiency and harmony of society, since these
people are deliberately limited in their cognitive and physical
abilities, as well as the scope of their ambitions and the complexity
of their desires, thus rendering them easier to control. All children
are educated via a sleep learning process, which provides each child
with caste-appropriate subconscious messages to mould the child's
life-long self-image and social outlook to that chosen by the leaders
and their predetermined plans for producing future adult generations.
To
maintain the World State's economy, all citizens are conditioned from
birth to value consumption with such platitudes as "ending is
better than mending," i.e., buy a new one instead of fixing the
old one, because constant consumption, and near-universal employment
to meet society's material demands, is the bedrock of economic and
social stability for the World State. Beyond providing social
engagement and distraction in the material realm of work or play, the
need for solitude and spirituality is addressed with the
availability and universally endorsed consumption of the drug, Soma.
Soma
is a hallucinogen that takes users on enjoyable, hangover-free
"holidays". It was developed by the World State to provide
these inner-directed personal experiences within a socially managed
context of State-run 'religious' organisations; social clubs. The
sleep learning inculcated affinity for the State-produced drug, as a
self-medicating comfort mechanism in the face of stress or
discomfort, thereby eliminates the need for religion or other
personal allegiances outside or beyond the World State.
Recreational
sex is an integral part of society. According to the World State, sex
is a social activity, rather than a means of reproduction (sex is
encouraged from early childhood). The maxim "everyone belongs to
everyone else" is repeated often, and the idea of a "family"
is considered pornographic; sexual competition and emotional,
romantic relationships are rendered obsolete because they are no
longer needed. Marriage, natural birth, parenthood, and pregnancy are
considered too obscene to be mentioned in casual conversation. Thus,
society has developed a new idea of reproductive comprehension.
Spending
time alone is considered an outrageous waste of time and money.
Wanting to be an individual is horrifying. This is why John the
Savage, is later afforded celebrity-like status. Conditioning trains
people to consume and never to enjoy being alone, so by spending an
afternoon not playing "Obstacle Golf," or not in bed with a
friend, one is forfeiting acceptance.
In
the World State, people typically die at age 60
having
maintained good health and youthfulness their whole life. Death isn't
feared; anyone reflecting upon it is reassured by the knowledge that
everyone is happy, and that society goes on. Since no one has family,
they have no ties to mourn.
The
conditioning system eliminates the need for professional
competitiveness; people are bred to do their jobs and cannot desire
another. There is no competition within castes; each caste member
receives the same food, housing, and soma rationing as every other
member of that caste. There is no desire to change one's caste,
largely because a person's sleep-conditioning reinforces each
individual's place in the caste system. To grow closer with members
of the same class, citizens participate in mock religious services
called Solidarity Services, in which twelve people consume large
quantities of soma and sing hymns. The ritual progresses through
group hypnosis and climaxes in an Orgy.
In
geographic areas non conducive to easy living and consumption,
securely contained groups of "savages" are left to their
own devices. These 'savages' have strange customs according to the
view of the World State, including self-mutilation, religion, and
keep family ties.
In
the opening Act, the opera describes life in the World State as
wonderful and introduces Lenina and Bernard. Lenina is a socially
accepted woman, normal for her society, while Bernard, a
psychologist, is an outcast. Although an Alpha Plus, Bernard is
shorter in stature than the average of his caste—a quality shared
by the lower castes, which gives him an inferiority complex. His work
with sleep-teaching has led him to realise that what others believe
to be their own deeply held beliefs are merely phrases repeated to
children while they are asleep. Still, he recognises the necessity of
such programming as the reason why his society meets the emotional
needs of its citizens. Courting disaster, he is vocal about being
different, once stating he dislikes Soma because he'd "rather
be himself." Bernard's differences fuel rumours that he was
accidentally administered alcohol while incubated, a method used to
keep Epsilons short.
Lenina,
is reprimanded by her friends because she is not promiscuous enough.
Both fascinated and disturbed by Bernard, she responds to Bernard's
advances to dispel her reputation for being too selective.
Bernard's
only friend is Helmholtz Watson, an Alpha Plus lecturer at the
College of Emotional Engineering. The friendship is based on their
similar experiences as misfits, but unlike Bernard, Watson's sense of
loneliness stems from being too gifted, too handsome, and too
physically strong. Helmholtz is drawn to Bernard as a confidant: he
can talk to Bernard about his desire to write poetry.
Bernard, desperately wanting Lenina's attention, tries to impress her by taking her on holiday to a Savage Reservation. The reservation, located in New Mexico, consists of a community named Malpais. Lenina thinks it will be exciting, but instead, she finds the aged, toothless natives who mend their clothes rather than throw them away repugnant, and the situation is made worse when she discovers that she has left her soma tablets at the resort hotel. Bernard is fascinated, although he realises his seduction plans have failed.
Bernard, desperately wanting Lenina's attention, tries to impress her by taking her on holiday to a Savage Reservation. The reservation, located in New Mexico, consists of a community named Malpais. Lenina thinks it will be exciting, but instead, she finds the aged, toothless natives who mend their clothes rather than throw them away repugnant, and the situation is made worse when she discovers that she has left her soma tablets at the resort hotel. Bernard is fascinated, although he realises his seduction plans have failed.
ACT
2: The Reservation and the Savage
As
typical tourists, Bernard and Lenina watch what at first appears to
be a quaint native ceremony. The village folk, whose culture resemble
the contemporary Indian groups of the region, descendants of the
Anasazi, including the Puebloan peoples of Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni,
and the Ramah Navajo, begin by singing, but the ritual quickly
becomes a passion play where a village boy is whipped to
unconsciousness.
Soon
after, the couple encounters Linda, a woman formerly of the World
State who has been living in Malpais since she came on a trip and
became separated from her group and her date, to whom she refers as
"Tomakin" but who is revealed to be Bernard's boss, the
Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, Thomas. She became pregnant
and there were no facilities for an abortion. Linda gave birth to a
son, John (later referred to as John the Savage) who is now eighteen.
Conversations
with Linda and John reveal that their life has been hard. For
eighteen years, they have been treated as outsiders: the natives hate
Linda for sleeping with all the men of the village, as she was
conditioned to do, and John was mistreated and excluded for his
mother's actions and the colour of his skin. John's one joy was that
his mother had taught him to read, although he only had two books: a
scientific manual from his mother's job, which he called a "beastly,
beastly book," and a collection of the works of Shakespeare.
John has been denied the religious rituals of the village, although
he has watched them and even has had some of his own religious
experiences in the desert.
Old,
weathered and tired, Linda wants to return to her familiar world in
London; she is tired of a life without Soma. John wants to see
the "Brave New World", his mother has told him so much
about. Bernard wants to take them back as revenge against Thomas, who
had just threatened to reassign Bernard to Iceland as punishment for
his asocial beliefs. Bernard arranges permission for Linda and John
to leave the reservation.
Upon his return to London, Bernard is confronted by Thomas Tomakin, the Director of the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre who, in front of an audience of higher-caste Centre workers, denounces Bernard for his asocial behaviour. Bernard, thinking that for the first time in his life he has the upper hand, defends himself by presenting the Director with his long lost lover and unknown son, Linda and John. John falls to his knees and calls Thomas his father, which causes an uproar of laughter. The humiliated Director resigns in shame.
Upon his return to London, Bernard is confronted by Thomas Tomakin, the Director of the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre who, in front of an audience of higher-caste Centre workers, denounces Bernard for his asocial behaviour. Bernard, thinking that for the first time in his life he has the upper hand, defends himself by presenting the Director with his long lost lover and unknown son, Linda and John. John falls to his knees and calls Thomas his father, which causes an uproar of laughter. The humiliated Director resigns in shame.
ACT
3: The Savage visits the World State
Spared
from reassignment, Bernard makes John the toast of London. Pursued by
the highest members of society, able to bed any woman he fancies,
Bernard revels in attention he once scorned. The victory, however, is
short lived. Linda, decrepit, toothless, friendless, goes on a
permanent Soma holiday while John, appalled by what he
perceives to be an empty society, refuses to attend Bernard's
parties. Society drops Bernard as swiftly as it had taken him.
Bernard turns to the person he'd believed to be his one true friend,
only to see Helmholtz fall into a quick, easy camaraderie with John.
Bernard is left an outcast yet again as he watches the only two men
with whom he ever connected find more of interest in each other than
they ever did in him.
John
grows frustrated by a society he finds wicked and debased. He is
moved by Lenina, but also loathes her sexual advances, which revolt
and shame him. He is heartbroken when his mother succumbs to Soma
and dies in a hospital. John's grief bewilders and revolts the
hospital workers, and their lack of reaction to Linda's death prompts
John to try to force humanity from the workers by throwing their
Soma rations out a window. The ensuing riot brings the police,
who Soma-gas the crowd. Bernard and Helmholtz arrive to help
John, but only Helmholtz helps him, while Bernard stands to the side,
torn between risking involvement by helping or escaping the scene.
Following
the riot, Bernard, Helmholtz and John are brought before Mustapha
Mond, the Resident World Controller for Western Europe. Bernard and
Helmholtz are told they will be exiled to islands of their choice.
Mond explains that this exile is not so much a threat to force
freethinkers to reform and rejoin society, as it is a chance for them
to act as they please because they will not be able to influence the
population. He also divulges that he too once risked banishment to an
island because of some scientific experiments that were deemed
controversial by the state, giving insight into his sympathetic tone.
Helmholtz chooses the Falkland islands, believing that their terrible
weather will inspire his writing, but Bernard simply does not want to
leave London; he struggles with Mond and is thrown out of the office.
After Bernard and Helmholtz have left, Mustapha and John engage in a
philosophical argument on the morals behind the existing society and
then John is told the "experiment" will continue and he
will not be sent to an island.
Epilogue
In
the final scene, John isolates himself from society in a lighthouse
outside London where he finds his hermit life interrupted from
mourning his mother by the more bitter memories of civilisation. To
atone his sins, John brutally whips himself in public , a ritual the
Indians in his own village had denied him. His self-flagellation,
caught on film and shown publicly, destroys his hermit life. Hundreds
of sightseers, intrigued by John's violent behavior, come to watch
John the Savage in person. Even Lenina comes to watch, crying a tear
John does not see. The sight of the woman whom he both adores and
blames is too much for him; John attacks and whips her. This sight of
genuine, unbridled emotion drives the crowd wild with excitement, and
they turn on each other, in a frenzy of beating and chanting that
devolves into a mass orgy of soma
and sex.
In
the morning, John, hopeless, alone, horrified by his drug use and the
orgy in which he participated that countered his beliefs, makes one
last attempt to escape civilisation. When thousands of gawking
sightseers arrive that morning, frenzied at the prospect of seeing
the Savage perform again, they find that John has hanged himself.
