BNW- blog 14

Chapter 13

Summary:

 Henry Foster comes to ask Lenina to a feely. She declines and he wants to know with whom she is sleeping, just because he is curious. She becomes incredibly irritated and tells him to shut up. He leaves and she messes up her work. Later in the changing room, Lenina tells Fanny that she is frustrated and confused about John. Fanny tells her to go over to his place and have him whether he wants to or not. Lenina pops some soma and heads over to John's.

When the doorbell rings, John hopes it's Helmholtz, but is surprised to find Lenina. John is trying to tell Lenina that he loves her but he just ends up confusing her with lions and vacuum cleaners. She is growing annoyed with all his jibberish that she stops he and tells him she likes him and asks if he likes her back. He says he does and begins spouting or Shakespearian quotaions at her and starts talking about getting married, which really freaks Lenina out. To stop John's crazy babbeling, Lenina kisses him. After awhile, John pulls away and retreats to a corner. Lenina walks toward him and starts undressing. She presses her naked body up against him and he pushes her away and calls her a whore. She drops to the ground and John tells her to get out of the apartment before he kills her. Lenina tries to escape to the bathroom, but John slaps her. Lenina locks herself in the bathroom and John is pacing around mumbling Shakespeare to himself. Lenina asks him to pass her clothes to her through the ventilator. 

John gets a phone call, (most likely about Linda) and rushes out of the room. Lenina takes this opportunity to hurry back home.

Vocab:

Trypanosomiasis ~ noun~ a disease caused by any minute, flagellate protozoan of the genus Trypanosoma,  parasitic in the blood or tissues of humans and other vertebrates,usually transmitted by insects.

Lupus ~ noun~ a rare form of tuberculosis of the skin, characterized by brownish tubercles that often heals slowly and leave scars.

Lit. Terms:

Allusions:

4 Allusions to The Tempest

Allusion to King Lear ~ "The wren goes to't and the small gilded fly does lecher in my sight...."

2 Allusions to Trolius and Cressida

2 Allusions to Othello

Allusion to Twelfth Night ~ "If I do not usurp myself, I am."

Allusion to Timon of Athens ~ "For those milk-paps that through the window bars bore at men's eyes."

Chapter Importance:

In this chapter John and Lenina finally admit their feelings for each other. John however, wants to take their relationship in a more romantic direction, where as Lenina would rather stick to a strictly physical relationship. All John knows about love comes from Shakespeare and his mother's dysfunctional relationships. Lenina knows only what she was taught hypnopaedically, which is to be promiscuous.

Lenina's behavior also fuels John's dislike for the society.