

John strikes one of the children and the nurse becomes angry. They ask Linda why she is so ugly and fat.

A group of Bokanvosky boys, all eight years old, gather around. He tries to think about the happy times they have experienced together. The nurse is scandalized by the word mother and blushes. He impatiently tells a nurse that he needs to see his mother. John rushes to Park Lane Hospital for the Dying. John acts out King Lear’s furious tirade against women and biological procreation (King Lear, IV. Lenina goes into the bathroom and locks the door.

This terrifies the man, making him angry. Lenina starts to take off her clothes as she presses her body against John. She is horrified, however, by what he says about lifelong commitment. She asks him why he has gone so long without saying anything about his feelings. He talks of marriage and says that he loves her. After falling to his knees, John starts quoting lines from Shakespeare to express his love. She says that he does not seem pleased that she has visited him. Lenina takes a bit of soma and goes to visit John. Lenina indicates that John is the only one she wants and that other men will not be able to distract her. She says that she ought to look for someone else to help her focus on other thoughts. Fanny informs her that it is inappropriate to be so obsessed about one man. She later tells Fanny that she does not know what it would be like to have sex with a savage. He sees that she is upset and indicates that she might require a “Violent Passion Surrogate” (or V.P.S). Lenina declines when Henry asks her to come to a feely.
