Dichotomy and Synthesis : Aldous Huxley's Search for Integration
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DICIIOTO]VIY Ai'lD SY-ITTIESIS : ALDOUS IIUXLEY I S SE.r\ìlCä FOR IIITEGRATION KTRPAL SINGI{, B.A. Hons (r97J, S'PORE), M.A. (t976, STPORE) A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Departrnent of Beglish, University of Adelaide L979 I /irr,,,r', ,/ 4i"/ -; '!' DECLARATION I d.eclare that to the best of my knowled,ge this thesis d.oes not contain any material of others r¿hich is not duly aclcnowledged.. "DICHOTOMY ¿\I,ID SYÌtl'ItiESIS : ALDOUS EUXLEY'S SEARCH I'OR INTFJGRATION'I Abstract Tkre basic aim is to examine Aldous Huxleyrs search for integration as revealed in hÍs poetryr short stories anil novel-s. fuisting' stud.ies have usually failed to stress the centrality of this theme in HurcLeyrs work or have exp).ored it Ín a very limitetl manner. Ftrrther, nost critics have tended. to ignore the relevance of the poetry and. the shorter fiction r¡hen d.j-scussing this aspect of HuxLeyrs work. fhe search for integration provides a funclemental unity to aLl that Huxley wrote. The need for the search arose out of a¡r inability to come to terrns both with himself (i.". the various aspects of his own nature) and. with his environment (:..e. the prevalent ethos). At the heart of this inability is the conflict which centres on Gulture and Anarchy. Euxleyrs bacÌ<ground and education instiled. in hin a deep respect for Culture. But he soon reaLised that Culture had. bred a malaise from which he rn¡st escape. Ihe alternative was Anarchy, plentiful in energ¡¡ but wanting gTace. The need for an acceptable synthesis forced Huxley to explore various nethods of living. In the final analysis Euxley fÍnd.s his rest in rrthe perennial philosophy" i a philosophy which, for hin, exenplified a viable solution to the probJ-ems of living. Critics have accused. Huxley of having deserted art for a pseud'o-mystical posturing of his beliefs. The thesis questj-ons this and. attempts to d.emonstrate that Hr:xleyr s work galns both Ín strength and. vision as his hold on reality becomes firmer and. more u¡Ífied.. Er:xleyrs acioption of Ved.antic-Bucldhism, ridiculed. Ín the west, is particularly of interest for it hishlights a¡r attenpt to synthesise a velxr sensitive r,¡este¡rr intelligence with a very tolera¡rt and. enlightened eastern way of lÍfe. In the end. it is the search rather than the doctrine which yields ¡nost fruitful stucly and it is on this that the main argument of the thesis is centred. ACK]'JOWIÐGT.JIIiTS I wish to place on record. ny gratitude to the following: f-) fhe Governments of Singapore and Australia for award.ing me a Colombo Pl-an Scholarship to work on this thesis; 2) Relatives, friends and, admirers of A1dous Euxley who so kindly responded to ny queries about his l-ife and work; especially, Lady Juliette lluxley, Ì'fiss Elspeth Huxleyt Lady Naomi Mitchison, Dame Rebecca l,{est, Miss Sybille Sedford, Lord. David Cecil, Lord Ker.neth Clarkr Brian ALdiss, Arthur CLarke, Colin Wilsonr Peter i{azareth and Bnrce }fason. 1) Professors A.R. Humphreys, Jerome Meckier, Colin Horne, John Frodsham, and Drs. Veronica Bradyr Brian ElÌiott Geoffrey Thurley for their valuabl-e comments on Liuxleyrs work; 4) Mr. George Turner a¡rd lte. Anthony Sl-ade, Chairnen of the Department of D'rgLish, University of Adel-aide, for their kind.ness; 5) Professor Ed.win Tkrumboo¡ Head of the Departrnent of B:rgJ-ish Language and Literature, University of Singapore, for his help and encouragement; 6) fhe Uníversity of Ad.elaide for its gracious hospitality; 7) Miss Anne Brewster for her heJ.p in the initial collection of material, and Miss Lena Bend.ara and Mr. Goh Boon Tay for their invaluable help in typing and. proof reading the f inal d.raf t of the thesis; B) Ttre Library of the University of California at Los Angeles for Íts generosity. A special word of thanks rnrst go to my wife, Sand-ie, for keeping the home fires brightly Iit and for putting up with the strain of separation while I was in Ad.elaide. l4y biggest debt, however, is to Professor John Co1mer, Jury Professor of Êrglish at the University of Adelaide. Eis rigorous supervision, keen and. stimulating criticisn, constant guidancet coupled with his infinite patience and. understanding nade rny work on the thesis a happy and meaningful experience. To his charming wife, Dorothy, I owe a special gratitude: her concern and affection v/er'e a constant souTce of confort and reassurance for one so far. away from home. To both Professor and }lrs. Colmer, I express my sincere tha¡rks; and fervently hope that this thesÍs will d.o them proud. K.S. COrtiTlliùTS Page TIITRODL]CTION . 1 CHÀFTER 1: TIiE POETRY 24 CIIAPTER 2: lEE SHORTER FICTION ,9 C}IAPTER J: THE NOVELS I CROME lmtlOht to IIOSE BARRF,]I T,EAVBS BB CHAPTBR 4: tHIl lrOVEtS II POIr\TT COIINTER POIì'IT to IIYEI,ESS IN GAZA 116 CI{APTER !: THE NOIIELS III AFTffi NXINY A SUI\Î'ER to ISLAND 190 CO],lCLUSION 272 BIBI,ICGRAIIIY 28l, A NOTE 0l! TIm 'IEXT: ABBFXVIATIONS For convenient paginatÍon of books frequentl-y referred tot the foll-owing abbreviations have been used. Please see the Bibliography for fuII publication d.etails. vJorks of Ald.ous lluxley (untess marked with an * the page references are to the Col] cted lJorks published. by Chatto & ','Iindus, London, from I){J onwards ). CY Crome Ye11ow I'iC Mortal- Coils A.H Antic Hay TBL [hose Barren Leaves JP Jestins Pilate PS Proper Studies *EltO Essays New and. 01d PCP Point Counter Point DlirIlfVJ Do l¡{hat You }/il-l BC Brief Cand.Les T'IN l4usic at Night [P Texts and Pretexts BNW Brave New l,/orld. OT The Olive Tree EG Eyeless in Gaza m4 Ðrd-s and Means A}INS After Many A Surnner GE Grey tninence [I\[IAS Time ltust Have A Stop PP TLre Pererurial Philosophy AE Ape and Essence w Dremes and. Variations DI {Ihe Devils of Loudun DP Ihe Doors of Perception and lleaven and. HeIl BNKTR Srave New !/orld Revisited. AA Adonis and the Alphabet res, Tf¡e Genius and. the Goddess *E Literature and. Science *E Ihe Hunan Situation CP The Collected. Poetry of Aldous Eux1ey¡ ed. Ðonald Watt. #J.l@. Letters of Ald.ous Huxl ¡ ed. Grover Snith 0thers S3 Aldous Huxley: A Biosraphy by Sybille Bedford MV Aldous Huxley 1894 - 1961: A llemorial Volume, ed. Julian Hux1ey. suuHcvdll ¡,ll oú l IMRODUCTION fhe tife a¡rd. work of Aldous Euxley present the literary critic with the forrnid.able task of integrating what is an essentially d.iverse literary output a¡rd. career into some acceptable franework within which they can be cogently and. neaningfully d.iscussed. His prodigious intellect, his ceaseless curiosity, his sensitive responses, his sober refl-ections, all contribute to an unrelenting gearch to find, in his word.s, the rrnri¡rimum working hypothesisrl which would allow man to come to terrns with himself. The search nanlfests itself most powerfully at a¡r intensely personal levef. Born at a tirne when the ethos of western civilisation was undergoing rapid. tra¡rsformations, anil educated in the early years of this century when the old accepted nodes of thought a¡rd behaviour were being rad.ically questioned. and. alteredt Huxley was frorn an early age nade alrare of the precariousness of his situation as a member of one of Drgland.ts most clistinguished. families. This ',precariousnessrr is characterised. chiefly by Huxleyrs aÌ¡areness that hunan existence is ridtllecl with conflÍcts which produced in man a bifurcation of being. Consequentlyr man becomes frustratecl a¡d. his spirÍt restless. Ttre goal of life, thereforet becomes the search for an acceptable synthesis by which thÍs schÍsn i¡l rna¡rrs being is satisfactorily overcome or resolved.. Once the synthesis is achieved., man is free to lead an integrated existence; an existence which allows him to live i¡ peace with hinself and. with the wor1d.. 2 (ii) The basic ain of this thesis is to'stud.y lluxleyrs search for integration as revealed. in his poetry, short stories and' novel-s. The search for integration, it is suggested, provid'es an aclequate frale of reference within which his varied and instructive literary output can be meaningful-Iy d'iscussed' This approach posits an essentiaf and basic underlying rrnity by emphasising the centrality of this theme to the entire work' The need. for such a"n emphasis - and. the justification for this re-exarnination of H¡xleyrs work - arises because existing critícisrn does not appear to be sufficiently appreciative of the natrlre and' the value of rn¡ch that Huxley is about. critics have tentled to use Iiuxley'sworkeithertodebur¡kortoglorifyacertainattitud'e towards life without really involving themselves with vùat is perhapsthemostcnrcialaspectofhiswork:namely,hisfundamental need to transcend himself by find.ing a way of escaping from the linits of acute seLf-consciousness. Secause self-consciousness is prirnarily an intellectual activity Euxleyt s d.aunting intellectual pro\^ress onJ-y reinforced the difficuJ-ty; he embarked' on a desperate search to go beyond' mere intellect without comprornising or abnegating its value. The more influential critics have had' remarkably little syrnpathy with this basic preoccupation of Hr.rxl-ey. llore often than not he has been d.isrnissed as a d.ilettante; as a writer who quite astonishingly arid.brilliarrtlycaptured'thepeculiartoneandatmosphereofthe nineteen-twenties but one who, ultimately¡ does not deserve to be pì.aced.alongsid.eourcenturylsfront-rankwriters.Havingbeen 1 viewecì as a v/ritel al-ienated fron love of Life or civilisationt there is a marked suspicion of his work.