The last chapter of the book aims to propose action which could be taken to prevent a democracy from turning into the totalitarian world described in Brave New World. In Huxley’s last novel, Island, he again expounds similar ideas to describe a utopian nation, which is generally viewed as a counterpart to Brave New World.
Censorship
According to American Library Association, Brave New World has frequently been banned and challenged in the United States due to insensitivity, offensive language, nudity, racism, conflict with a religious viewpoint, and being sexually explicit. It landed on the list of the top ten most challenged books in 2010 (3) and 2011 (7). The book also secured a spot on the association’s list of the top one hundred challenged books for 1990–1999 (54), 2000–2009 (36), and 2010–2019 (26).
The following include specific instances of when the book has been censored, banned, or challenged:
In 1932, the book was banned in Ireland for its language, and for supposedly being anti-family and anti-religion.
In 1965, a Maryland English teacher alleged that he was fired for assigning Brave New World to students. The teacher sued for violation of First Amendment rights but lost both his case and the appeal, with the appeals court ruling that the assignment of the book was not the reason for his firing.
The book was banned in India in 1967, with Huxley accused of being a «pornographer».
In 1980, it was removed from classrooms in Miller, Missouri, among other challenges.
The version of Brave New World Revisited published in China lacks explicit mentions of China itself.
Influences and allegations of plagiarism
The English writer Rose Macaulay published What Not: A Prophetic Comedy in 1918. What Not depicts a dystopian future where people are ranked by intelligence, the government mandates mind training for all citizens, and procreation is regulated by the state. Macaulay and Huxley shared the same literary circles and he attended her weekly literary salons.
Bertrand Russell felt Brave New World borrowed from his 1931 book The Scientific Outlook, and wrote in a letter to his publisher that Huxley’s novel was «merely an expansion of the two penultimate chapters of ‘The Scientific Outlook.'»
H. G. Wells’ novel The First Men in the Moon (1901) used concepts that Huxley added to his story. Both novels introduce a society (in Wells’ case, that of the Lunar natives) consisting of a specialized caste system, in which new generations are produced in vessels, where their designated caste is decided before birth by tampering with the fetus’ development, and individuals are drugged down when they are not needed.
George Orwell believed that Brave New World must have been partly derived from the 1921 novel We by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin. However, in a 1962 letter to Christopher Collins, Huxley says that he wrote Brave New World long before he had heard of We. According to We translator Natasha Randall, Orwell believed that Huxley was lying. Kurt Vonnegut said that in writing Player Piano (1952), he «cheerfully ripped off the plot of Brave New World, whose plot had been cheerfully ripped off from Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We».
In 1982, Polish author Antoni Smuszkiewicz, in his analysis of Polish science-fiction Zaczarowana gra («The Magic Game»), presented accusations of plagiarism against Huxley. Smuszkiewicz showed similarities between Brave New World and two science fiction novels written earlier by Polish author Mieczysław Smolarski, namely Miasto światłości («The City of Light», 1924) and Podróż poślubna pana Hamiltona («Mr Hamilton’s Honeymoon Trip», 1928). Smuszkiewicz wrote in his open letter to Huxley: «This work of a great author, both in the general depiction of the world as well as countless details, is so similar to two of my novels that in my opinion there is no possibility of accidental analogy.»
Kate Lohnes, writing for Encyclopædia Britannica, notes similarities between Brave New World and other novels of the era could be seen as expressing «common fears surrounding the rapid advancement of technology and of the shared feelings of many tech-skeptics during the early 20th century». Other dystopian novels followed Huxley’s work, including C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength (1945) and Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).
Legacy
In 1998–1999, the Modern Library ranked Brave New World fifth on its list of the 100 Best Novels in English of the 20th century. In 2003, Robert McCrum writing for The Observer included Brave New World chronologically at number 53 in «the top 100 greatest novels of all time», and the novel was listed at number 87 on the BBC’s survey The Big Read.
On 5 November 2019, BBC News listed Brave New World on its list of the 100 Most Inspiring Novels. In 2021, Brave New World was one of six classic science fiction novels by British authors selected by Royal Mail to feature on a series of UK postage stamps.
Adaptations
Theatre
Brave New World (opened 4 September 2015) in co-production by Royal & Derngate, Northampton and Touring Consortium Theatre Company which toured the UK. The adaptation was by Dawn King, composed by These New Puritans and directed by James Dacre.
Radio
Brave New World (radio broadcast) CBS Radio Workshop (27 January and 3 February 1956): music composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann. Adapted for radio by William Froug. Introduced by William Conrad and narrated by Aldous Huxley. Featuring the voices of Joseph Kearns, Bill Idelson, Gloria Henry, Charlotte Lawrence, Byron Kane, Sam Edwards, Jack Kruschen, Vic Perrin, Lurene Tuttle, Herb Butterfield, Doris Singleton.
Brave New World (radio broadcast) BBC Radio 4 (May 2013)
Brave New World (radio broadcast) BBC Radio 4 (22, 29 May 2016)
Film
Brave New World (1980), a television film directed by Burt Brinckerhoff
Brave New World (1998), a television film directed by Leslie Libman and Larry Williams
In 2009, a theatrical film was announced to be in development, with collaboration between Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio. By May 2013 the project was placed on hold.
Brave New World (2014), fan film directed by Nathan Hyde
Television
Brave New World (2010), miniseries directed by Leonard Menchiari
Brave New World (2020), series created by David Wiener
In May 2015, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television would bring Brave New World to Syfy network as a scripted series, adapted by Les Bohem.
The adaptation was eventually written by David Wiener with Grant Morrison and Brian Taylor, with the series ordered to air on USA Network in February 2019. The series eventually moved to the Peacock streaming service and premiered on 15 July 2020. In October 2020, the series was cancelled after one season.
