What is ironic about John's proclamation that he is going to a "brave new world" in Brave New World?

The statement is ironic because the phrase "brave new world" comes from Shakespeare, but the society John is talking about has banned Shakespeare.

John has read Shakespeare, unlike the rest of the society. They feel that books other than nonfiction are not valuable.  That includes Shakespeare. We are told that “all books published before A.F. 15O” have been suppressed. This is part of the “campaign against the Past” (Ch. 3). However, since John is a savage, he has lived a completely different life. Popé brought him The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, which had been found in one of the chests of Antelope Kiva.

John’s mother tells him the book is uncivilized, but that he can practice reading on it. John does not have the best life, and he is drawn to the beauty of Shakespeare. The book helps John get in touch with his emotions.

Since he begins to experience and understand the world through the lens of Shakespeare, it kind of makes sense that John’s reaction to Lenina is an allusion to Miranda’s reaction to Alonso and Antonio in The Tempest.

The flush suddenly deepened; he was thinking of Lenina, of an angel in bottle-green viscose, lustrous with youth and skin food, plump, benevolently smiling. His voice faltered. "O brave new world," he began, then suddenly interrupted himself; the blood had left his cheeks; he was as pale as paper. (Ch. 8)

John can’t wait to see the world Lenina came from. Bernard is not impressed. He asks him to see the rest of the world before he makes a judgement. This is because Bernard knows that the world they are going back to is not a fantasy.

There are a couple of reasons that John’s reaction is ironic. Irony refers to a statement that is contradictory. There is dramatic irony with this statement, because John has no idea what this new world is like. Dramatic irony is when the reader knows something a character does not. He judges the new world by Lenina. She is beautiful, so the world she came from should be beautiful. It must be full of beautiful people. The fact that he quotes Shakespeare to praise a world that has banned Shakespeare is ironic.

The statement is also ironic because it is an expression of John’s situation. Like Miranda, he has been isolated from the rest of the world. Miranda was trapped on an island, and John was trapped in the reservation. In each case, the character is going to be leaving their isolation. Miranda might have hated the world she came to. We don't know, because the play ends. Alonso and Antonio did betray her father. John is not going to like the world he is going into either.