A deep romance, exposing idleness and anger, something that should not be shown, if it had not been a bitter truth. Perception of the world, presented individually by each hero. The ability to get into the skin of every character and live his story - that's what Huxley's “Counterpoint” is.
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley is a famous English writer who has left his mark on world literature. The author’s most famous novel, “Brave New World,” made many completely rethink and realize the system of the social system. In later years, O. Huxley began to get involved in philosophy, complex psychology, as a result of which his books, thoughts, characters began to acquire a completely new color.
The name of the novel denotes a term referring to many areas in art. Counterpoint - this in the literature denotes several lines of plot, several ongoing actions that are opposed to each other. In music, this is polyphony, where all voices have equal strength and the main one is absent. Thus, sounds, thoughts, stories, characters and lines are intertwined. This was the main motive of the work of Aldous Huxley “Counterpoint”.
The general idea of ​​the novel
The difference between “A Counterpoint” by Aldous Huxley from most classical works of art is the lack of a plot as such. There is nothing that connects all the heroes or their stories. Roughly speaking, an individual hero presents his own story, which may not be woven into the overall picture. Despite this, the novel is read in one breath, it is rare for the author to describe the characters' inner world (though not so rich) so accurately from a rather pragmatic point of view. In judgments, motives, descriptions, there is composure of an outside observer. In this, again, Huxley’s connection with the hero of the novel, Quarles, can be traced. All characters are immoral, greedy, they can be called gluttons, merry fellow, lecherous and drunkards. The main storylines reflect the inner world of a character, focusing on only one person.
Characters
Hilda Tantemount is a lady who is fully a reflection of her time and status. Elegant, unhurried, knowing her own worth and, perhaps, even greatly overestimating it in her own eyes. Her story is such that by pretense and slight deceit, she married a man, easily obeying her. Hilda is not the most pleasant character, her favorite pastime is gossip and incitement to conflicts, quarrels or trivial confrontations between people with different worldviews. However, she is by no means a key character.
Walter Bidlake and his father John Bidlake are men who give most of their attention to women. The elder Bidleyke had an affair with Hilda Tantemount for several years, despite her marriage. He loved women, he liked to have fun with women, but age made itself felt, and the joy of his life gradually disappears. Walter can be said to play with women. The young man broke the marriage of Mrs. Marjorie, for some time he enjoyed the newly-acquired lover. But soon she was tired of him, unfortunately, Marjorie Carling was already pregnant at that time from him. Walter himself is at a loss, as his heart has already been stolen by another girl - Lucy Tantemount.
Lucy Tantemount - young, cheerful, ready to have fun for weeks on end, the main thing is that there is a note of madness in the fun. She recently became a widow, but does not show the mind. For her, the main thing is that the fun remains interesting for her.
Denise Burlep is Walter’s boss, he is also a member of secular society. John Bidlake, he was called "a cross between a sharpie and a sanctuary."
The spouses of the Rampions, Mary and Mark, met many years ago. Their relationship was hindered by a big difference in social status. However, this did not stop the girl, after going through a lot, they became spouses. Loving each other, supporting and gradually going to dreams.
Maurice Spandrell wants nothing more. He is full of disappointment, hidden resentment, anger at the world. There is a child’s wound in his heart. The only person who was dear to him was his mother, who, according to Maurice, betrayed him.
Everard Webley is a deeply convinced representative of the Communist Party, or rather, its leader.
Edward Illidge is a member of the same party whose faith in their own business is caused only by a low position in society, envy and attempts to at least change something.
Philip Quarles is a character whose prototype was Huxley himself. Cold in calculations, gifted with a scientific mind, he thinks impartially and clearly. It is difficult for him to find a common language with the outside world, he does not feel, he does not understand other people. His wife, Eleanor, is portrayed as a vehicle between Philip and the outside world, however, despite strong love, it is difficult for her to endure his indifferent manner of communication.
Summary
The novel takes place in London, so to speak, in its upper layers. The reader is shown the elite, a secular society that appears in all its beauty, luxury and excesses. Excesses are manifested even in the characters, in the lives of the characters. The following is a summary of Huxley's Counterpoint, or rather, the main storylines that make up the skeleton of the entire book.
Walter Bidleyke's Love Story for Lucy
After the evening at Tentmounts, Lucy meets friends in a restaurant and takes Walter with him. The young man wants to be alone with a cheerful and carefree Lucy. But he does not dare to show his desires, which immediately causes contempt for the girl and the corresponding attitude. After a while, Walter still manages to get Lucy's attention, they have an affair. Suddenly, the youngest Tantemount leaves for France, from where she first writes to her lover. But soon he ceases to be of interest to her, because she found herself new adventures.
Walter returns to his bored pregnant wife, doomed to endure her for many more years. She accepts him, forgiving his passion for another special one.
The married life of the Quarls
The Quarls family has just returned from India, Eleanor almost immediately after arrival agrees to meet with Everard Webley, who had liked her for a long time. She is absolutely indifferent to her, but she, like any woman, is pleased with his attention, his love, passion. Trying to arouse her husband’s jealousy, she tells him everything, but he is too keen on his own affairs to listen. Then Elinor continues to meet with Everard, they will again spend time together. But just a couple of hours before, she was informed of the sudden onset of illness at her son, who is in Germany, she immediately leaves. Before leaving, Eleanor only manages to ask Maurice Spandrell to give her fan keys and news about the departure.
At the end of Counterpoint by Aldous Huxley, after the events described below, the Quarls son dies. They have nothing left, they no longer want to take root and stay somewhere after everything that happened. Therefore, they decide to just travel, look at the world, people.
Political motives
Immediately after leaving Elinor, Maurice Spandrell comes up with a sinister idea. He was an opponent of the Communist Party, led by Webley. Spandrell despaired, he had nothing more to lose. And he has the opportunity to get rid of the leader of the Communists, which he does when he finds an ally in the person of Edward Illidge.
However, the murder did not help Maurice; he was still sick inside. Then he decides to commit suicide consciously. Spandrell sends a letter to the Communist Party headquarters with his own address and time when the leader’s killer will be there. After some time, they knocked on the door, the owner opened the door and was killed.
Reader Reviews
The reviews on Counterpoint by Aldous Huxley are surprising, it seems that the reader himself has experienced all this. The main advantage many call the characters: living, with bright flaws and individual character traits. Each of them has its own background.
O. Huxley's “Counterpoint”, according to reviews, is not just a plot novel; its huge advantage is the opportunity to be a party to disputes. Characters lead discussions based on their own perceptions of the world. No hero is like another, due to this you can see unique clashes of interests and opinions.
Opinion of the public says that “Counterpoint” Huxley incorporated the amazingly described qualities of people: blind anger, stupid carelessness, dry intelligence, immorality, faced with complete devastation in the end.
Comments from critics
When reading the plot, some may have a feeling of similarity with William Thackeray’s novel Vanity Fair. However, in “Counterpoint” by Aldous Huxley is more and more open, there are no hidden thoughts, everything is said directly. At Thackeray, the fair is depicted, where everything has its price and everything is for sale. And the dolls in it are indifferent people living by a delicate calculation. Aldous Huxley's “Counterpoint” shows a high society drowned in sins and based on the superficiality of thought, judgment, and action. Although both writers were able to surprisingly accurately portray the evils of society, novels are very different in the environment they describe.
In the Huxley novel there is no integral plot, the main characters, conflict. This is simultaneously a feature, but for many a minus. The “novel of ideas”, as it is also called, is a collection of parts that are gradually woven together. Despite this, Huxley's “Counterpoint”, according to critics, is the author’s most interesting, profound work. This was an early period of Huxley's work, in the work, in the characters' characters, he is still looking for himself.