EVOLUTION OF ALDOUS HUXLEY'S OUTLOOK

Abstract

The evolution of Aldous Huxley's outlook is considered in terms of cultural studies. The metaanthropological approach traces how the artist's attitude to the human personality and its place in the universe was changing. A comparative analysis of the artist's works from different periods of creative activity shows that along with the evolution of the artist’s outlook, the outlook of his characters was changing. It is shown how the spiritual searches of A. Huxley and his characters developed from the ordinary level of outlook in early novels, through personal one in novels that offer an anti-utopian model of culture, to the philosophical level of outlook in the Island novel. It was found that the outlook of his characters from the early period of the artist's work is limited by the framework of ordinary being and outlook, which leads to the lack of self-confidence, the impossibility to make decisions, the inability to think creatively. In those novels which offer an anti-utopian model of culture the characters' outlook gains the features of independence, critical thinking, creativity, self-knowledge and self-improvement, which means achieving a personal level of both outlook and being. In the Island novel the outlook of A. Huxley’s characters gains the hallmarks of philosophical outlook, which inner integrity, harmony and creative character are typical for. This analysis embraces A. Huxley's early novels from the 1920s and 1930s, philosophical novels offering anti-utopian models of culture, and the last philosophical novel Island.