That would seem to be an element of the Shakespeare worship that, to my thinking, is very bad for the appreciation of Shakespeare.
It's also a note of how much Huxley wasn't aware of his own conditioning.
Oh, and a note on "beauty", there's a heavy influence of familiarity involved. Show someone a picture repeatedly and, when asked to choose the more aesthetically pleasing between that picture and a similar picture (similar theme, color palate, etc.), they'll more often choose the more familiar. So, a lot of the beauty of Shakespeare's work (and, indeed, much of the beauty of the biblical stories) can be seen as a function of repetition.
Now, while Shakespeare is good at his craft, it's just an element of how ephemeral beauty, as a concept, is.
Re: How does John know?
It's also a note of how much Huxley wasn't aware of his own conditioning.
Oh, and a note on "beauty", there's a heavy influence of familiarity involved. Show someone a picture repeatedly and, when asked to choose the more aesthetically pleasing between that picture and a similar picture (similar theme, color palate, etc.), they'll more often choose the more familiar. So, a lot of the beauty of Shakespeare's work (and, indeed, much of the beauty of the biblical stories) can be seen as a function of repetition.
Now, while Shakespeare is good at his craft, it's just an element of how ephemeral beauty, as a concept, is.