Lenina Crowne

Lenina Crowne is a Beta Plus Hatchery worker, who has begun to question her position within the strict social strata of the New World. When the clock strikes four at the end of the workday, Lenina is seen exiting the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre with everyone else. In the locker room after work, Lenina goes through her standard materialistic, technology-heavy routine: massage, scent organ, perfume, synthetic music. She also chats with Fanny about men, or more specifically, the one man she's been with for a few months now: Henry Foster. When Fanny is shocked to hear of this relative monogamy, Lenina admits that she has a thing for Bernard Marx. Even though everyone else (including Fanny) thinks he's weird, she is attracted to him. She admits that Bernard has asked her to the Savage Reservation and that she's going to accept. While they chat, Lenina dresses up in a cute green outfit that shows off her Malthusian belt full of contraceptives. In the elevator with Alpha males she's had sex with, Lenina publicly talks to Bernard about their date plans, much to his embarrassment, which she doesn't understand. She parts ways with Bernard on the roof to meet Foster for a date. In the helicopter, Lenina plays the part of a perfectly conditioned adult female, repeating her sleep-taught notions about caste. She plays Obstacle Golf with Henry. Afterward they have dinner, soma, dancing, and sex. In that order. Lenina decides that Bernard is definitely odd, but she'd still like to go on this holiday to the Savage Reservation with him. She discusses it (in bed) with Henry, who reveals that Bernard's mind didn't take too well to conditioning.

On their first date, Lenina tries to deal with the fact that Bernard doesn't want to be around people. She's confused by his refusal to take soma and his insistence at showing her the ocean, which she finds to be awful. Of course, she thinks all is well when they go to bed together. All is not well; the next day, Bernard expresses regret that they had sex. He thinks they should have waited. Lenina is hurt, certain that he must have found her unattractive. When she tells all this to Fanny, Lenina concludes that she really does like Bernard. She just wishes he weren't so odd. Lenina flies with Bernard to the Reservation. While the Warden tells them what they need to know, Lenina is distracted due to her breakfast of soma. When Bernard freaks out over his impending banishment, Lenina convinces him to take soma. Once they embark on their tour of the Reservation, Lenina is generally disgusted by what she sees. Along with Bernard, Lenina witnesses a ritualistic whipping dance and then meets John, whom she finds very attractive, though she can't understand why he wants to be beaten. Lenina has a not-too-easy time dealing with Linda, whom she finds to be disgusting. So disgusting, in fact, that Lenina takes an eighteen-hour soma holiday when she gets back to the hotel room. Lenina is still on soma holiday when John comes by, prowls through her luggage, and watches her sleep. After John has been in the World State for a while, Lenina chats with Fanny in the locker room about an upcoming date she has planned with the Savage. It becomes clear that Lenina's gotten a lot of attention since John arrived (since she was such a key part of the whole event), and as such a lot of important men have been asking her out on dates. However, they mostly want to know what it's like to sleep with a Savage. Lenina admits to Fanny that, much to her frustration, this hasn't happened yet. But she's hopeful that maybe tonight will be the night, since they're going to see a feely together. So Lenina goes on her date with John. They see Three Weeks in a Helicopter, which turns Lenina on but makes John feel extremely uncomfortable. When they get back to her place, she's all set for John to stay the night. When he doesn't, Lenina is utterly distressed. She takes three soma tablets to get over it. Lenina is in attendance at the big dinner party when John refuses to come out of his room. She assumes this means that John doesn't like her, but none of these distressing emotions stop her from going home with the Arch-Community-Songster (though she does need to take a good amount of soma in order to go to bed with him). When Henry Foster asks her out to a feely, Lenina says no. She's so angered by his suggestion that she get a V.P.S. (Violent Passion Surrogate) treatment that she forgets to give one of the "bottles" its sleeping sickness treatment. She discusses her predicament with Fanny and concludes that she should just waltz over to John's place and tell him how she feels. So Lenina ends up at John's place, where she pretty much asks him to come clean about his emotions. When John admits that he loves her, Lenina thinks all is well. She strips and throws her body at John, who hits her and sends her running for the bathroom. From behind the locked door, Lenina fears for her life while John calls her a whore. Finally she asks her for clothes, which she insists he push through the ventilator. Lenina doesn't come out until John leaves to run to the hospital. In the middle of John's public self-mutilation at the lighthouse, Lenina shows up with Henry Foster. She tries to shout something to John, but he can't hear her and instead of communication opts for whipping.

Works Cited:
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Lenina Crowne Timeline in Brave New World." Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 7 Feb. 2022.

In-text Citation
(Shmoop Editorial Team)

References section (at end of paper):
Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Lenina Crowne Timeline in Brave New World. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.shmoop.com/brave-new-world/lenina-crowne-timeline.html

In-line reference:
(Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008)

Bibliography (at end of paper):
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Lenina Crowne Timeline in Brave New World." Shmoop University, Inc. Last modified November 11, 2008. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://www.shmoop.com/brave-new-world/lenina-crowne-timeline.html.

Footnote:
1Shmoop Editorial Team, "Lenina Crowne Timeline in Brave New World," Shmoop University, Inc., Last modified November 11, 2008, https://www.shmoop.com/brave-new-world/lenina-crowne-timeline.html.