3) How are the female characters in Huxley's novel portrayed? Do parallels exist between society's reception of women in the novel and current societal values of and toward women?
"'Lenina Crowne?... Oh, she's a splendid girl. Wonderfully pneumatic'" (Huxley 49). Lenina is arguably the most highly sought after woman in Brave New World, considered nearly perfect by her society's standards. As the philosophy in Brave New World goes: "Everybody belongs to every one else" (Huxley 141); Lenina is had by many men, sexualized and objectified in what is considered to be a morally acceptable manner. She epitomizes the society's notion of the way in which women should act, although there are notable disparities in her character (Rowland 15).
For instance, she is characterized as always wearing the color green, with her jacket of "bottle green acetate cloth with green viscose fur at the cuffs and collar" (Huxley 55) and "a silver-mounted green morocco-surrogate cartridge belt, bulging... with the regulation supply of contraceptives" (Huxley 56). The strictly enforced caste system in the novel categorizes individuals' intelligence, social status, and personal worth based on the colors they wear - Alphas, gray; Betas, mulberry or maroon; Gammas, green; Deltas, khaki; and Epsilons, black. However, Lenina deviates from this rigid standard, seemingly the only one other than John the Savage who is able to violate this code of conduct. What makes this phenomenon unique is that Huxley portrays her as neither rebelling from society by being different in this way nor punishes her for this divergence from social norms, although her attire clearly shows the unorthodoxy of her character since she is most logically an Alpha or a Beta and should be wearing a different color altogether (Higdon).
Lenina also differs from other women in that her sexual habits tend toward monogamy (or rather, as monogamous as relationships can be in Brave New World) since she remains with Henry Foster for four months "and there's been nobody else except Henry all that time" (Huxley 46). Such action is highly peculiar since sexual promiscuity is mandated as a civic duty in Lenina's society. However, instead of further developing her as a nonconforming character like Bernard and John, once John enters her life Huxley describes Lenina once again as the generic woman who seeks sexual prowess and abides by a loose code of moral conduct (Higdon).
It is in this way that Lenina does indeed parallel modern society's reception of women, in which they are portrayed in popular media as sexualized creatures and set unrealistic standards of beauty for other young women. There is also a great focus on fashion because it serves as a status symbol - just like Lenina's green clothing diverged from what would be her expected wardrobe, so too do women use style to display their superiority and financial stability. Additionally, just as birth control technology is becoming more and more accepted in today's society, so too is greater sexual freedom. Although we will probably never reach the level of unencumbered displays of sexuality as that of Brave New World, it has emerged now as much more standard than that during the 1930's, in which time Huxley wrote and published his bestselling novel. Lenina also embodies the notion of the liberated woman, since she chooses her own sexual partners, is not required to fulfill a domestic role, has found a successful career, and has control over her own body (March).
For instance, she is characterized as always wearing the color green, with her jacket of "bottle green acetate cloth with green viscose fur at the cuffs and collar" (Huxley 55) and "a silver-mounted green morocco-surrogate cartridge belt, bulging... with the regulation supply of contraceptives" (Huxley 56). The strictly enforced caste system in the novel categorizes individuals' intelligence, social status, and personal worth based on the colors they wear - Alphas, gray; Betas, mulberry or maroon; Gammas, green; Deltas, khaki; and Epsilons, black. However, Lenina deviates from this rigid standard, seemingly the only one other than John the Savage who is able to violate this code of conduct. What makes this phenomenon unique is that Huxley portrays her as neither rebelling from society by being different in this way nor punishes her for this divergence from social norms, although her attire clearly shows the unorthodoxy of her character since she is most logically an Alpha or a Beta and should be wearing a different color altogether (Higdon).
Lenina also differs from other women in that her sexual habits tend toward monogamy (or rather, as monogamous as relationships can be in Brave New World) since she remains with Henry Foster for four months "and there's been nobody else except Henry all that time" (Huxley 46). Such action is highly peculiar since sexual promiscuity is mandated as a civic duty in Lenina's society. However, instead of further developing her as a nonconforming character like Bernard and John, once John enters her life Huxley describes Lenina once again as the generic woman who seeks sexual prowess and abides by a loose code of moral conduct (Higdon).
It is in this way that Lenina does indeed parallel modern society's reception of women, in which they are portrayed in popular media as sexualized creatures and set unrealistic standards of beauty for other young women. There is also a great focus on fashion because it serves as a status symbol - just like Lenina's green clothing diverged from what would be her expected wardrobe, so too do women use style to display their superiority and financial stability. Additionally, just as birth control technology is becoming more and more accepted in today's society, so too is greater sexual freedom. Although we will probably never reach the level of unencumbered displays of sexuality as that of Brave New World, it has emerged now as much more standard than that during the 1930's, in which time Huxley wrote and published his bestselling novel. Lenina also embodies the notion of the liberated woman, since she chooses her own sexual partners, is not required to fulfill a domestic role, has found a successful career, and has control over her own body (March).