He mentions an old experiment on Cyprus that had attempted a society of Alphas. No one wants to waste time doing the menial chores performed by Epsilons and Deltas. Mustapha points out that an entire society of Alpha Pluses would create social chaos. Mustapha admits that happiness is never quite as great as tragedy. The challenge in their civilization is to write works of art inspired by nothing so that they inspire nothing. At the same time, creating works of art is not possible without tragic elements within society.

When Helmholtz argues that something like Othello is what he has always wanted to write, Mustapha says that he will never write it because tragedy and raw emotions lead to social instability. People are happy now and would not even understand the old things. When asked why he censors old things like Shakespeare, Mustapha replies that society no longer needs them. Mustapha indicates that although he forbids reading things such as Shakespeare, he can break the rules since they are his rules. Mustapha quotes Shakespeare to him: 'Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments will hum about my ears and sometimes voices.' The Savage is thrilled that someone else knows Shakespeare. John does not, but he adds that it does have some nice things like the floating music. Mustapha arrives and asks the Savage if he likes their civilization.

Helmholtz chooses the best chair in the room while Bernard seeks out the worst, hoping that this self-inflicted punishment will make things easier for him. The three men enter Mustapha Mond's office.

Sparknotes brave new world chapter 7