Alex's Night Music and Violent Fantasies

Alex returns to his flat, where his parents are asleep. He eats a snack, then goes to his room to listen to classical music on his stereo. He plays a violin concerto by Geoffrey Plautus, then Mozart's Jupiter Symphony, and finally J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto. As he listens, he has violent fantasies of beating and raping people, which are intertwined with the music. The music intensifies his violent urges, and he experiences a kind of ecstasy. This scene is crucial for understanding Alex's character: he is a lover of high art, but his appreciation of beauty is inseparable from his capacity for cruelty. The music does not civilize him; it fuels his violence.