The Heart Was Made To Be Broken Critical Analysis

“The heart was made to be broken.” – Oscar Wilde, The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde Romantic relationships are pretty standard for all of the casts in the civilized world. They are based on physical acts rather than emotions. The concept of monogamy is out of the question and falling in love is to be avoided at all costs. The people do not struggle with following these restrictions due to the conditioning process which advises them to have casual relationships with multiple people. This is reflected in the diction: the characters in the novel describe their relationships as “having” each other. This suggests that the physical act in their relationships has become mechanical like eating. There is no love to it, it is purely physical.

The idea of having multiple partners is encouraged through sleep-teachings, soma and sex chewing gum. Also, the solidarity services, during which the participants consume drugs, sing songs and then participate in group sex, are where sexual activities are promoted to replace spirituality. This is emphasized in the song “orgy porgy” (Huxley, 84). Furthermore, people know and expect their partners to be with other people. For example, while referring to Lenina and Henry’s relationship, Huxley says, “Henry, with whom, one evening when they were in bed together, Lenina had rather anxiously discussed her new lover, Henry had compared poor Bernard to a rhinoceros” (Huxley, 88). Lenina is not only dating another man, but feels comfortable enough that she shares this with Henry during what is supposed to be an intimate and private time. Henry’s response, though negative, is not due to his jealousy or discomfort. It is due to preconceptions about Bernard and has nothing to do with his relationship with Lenina. As for Bernard and Lenina’s relationship, Lenina refuses to do anything romantic with him and feels uncomfortable being alone with him except for when they interact