"Gruff Old Scientists" and "Rough Old Scholars": The Caricature of Intellectualism in Aldous Huxley's Short Stories

Abstract

This essay examines Aldous Huxley's short stories from early "Happily Ever After" to more accomplished "Chawdron" and "The Rest Cure". My analysis shows that criticism of perverted, one-dimensional intellectualism is one of the most important themes in Huxley's short fiction. His stories often mock superficial public school teachers, delusional academics, art snobs, unimaginative critics, and intellectuals who neglect or deliberately suppress emotions and thus limit their perception of reality. Huxley's criticism reveals his position on diverse phenomena ranging from British education to Modernist art. It also indicates his dissatisfaction with dominant ideas at the beginning of the XX century, positioning him as a unique thinker of the Modernist era. © 2021 Masarykova Univerzita. All rights reserved.