Motif
Review: What is a theme?
• An idea, message, or lesson incorporated
throughout a literary work, usually involving
some on how the world works or fails to work.
o Themes are often related to the author’s
purpose in writing the literary work.
• Theme differs from the subject or topic of a
literary work in that it involves a statement or
opinion about the topic
Questions to help locate a
theme
• Does the text examine some common life
experience or problem?
o Does the text offer any solutions or answers to common problems?
• How do the other elements in the story work
together? What ideas or observations about life do
they reveal?
How is theme presented?
• Often, stories suggest a theme through the
details of:
o
o
o
o
Characters
Plot
Setting
Point of view
• Themes of most literature have to do with
emotions and experiences that make us
human—fear, courage, loss, love, etc.
Examples of theme
• The Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition
• The Relationship Between Cruelty and Masculinity
• The Difference Between Kingship and Tyranny
So how does this connect to Motif?
What is a motif?
• Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or
literary devices that can help to develop
and inform the text’s major themes
• A motif may be:
– a literary element used repeatedly in one text
– two contrasting elements in a work (good
and evil)
– a literary element used over time in various
texts, providing a useful example of a cultural
"constant"
Why use a motif?
• It allows us to see the main points and
themes
• Helps us understand what the author is
expressing
• Helps us interpret the work more
accurately
Examples of motif
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•
•
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Hallucinations
Violence
Prophecy
Sleep and Sleeplessness
Nature
Blood
Light and Dark
Sight and Blindness
Equivocation
Clothing
Motifs in Macbeth
So how is Theme different
from Motif?
Motifs are things that reoccur in the
story.
Example: Good and evil, light and dark,
blood, rain
Themes: The big idea and the message
of the story.
Motifs help you find the “big idea.”
• This motif is a paradox! (opposite
words)
• How can something be fair (good) and foul
(bad) at the same time? As the play begins:
o the weather is foul but the day has
brought success to Macbeth.
o Witches are evil (foul) but they bring
good news (fair)
o the battle has been won but life has
been lost.
• This motif begins with the entrance of the “bloody man,”
the captain who tells of Macbeth’s bravery in Act I,
Scene 2.
• It continues as Macbeth sees the dagger, at the death
of Duncan, and throughout the play as several
characters are killed.
• The idea that the blood of a murder is not easily washed
from the hands is evident in both Macbeth’s and Lady
Macbeth’s speeches.
• Darkness is the prevalent
atmosphere in the entire play.
o Almost all the scenes take place at
night or in a dark place.
o The murder of King Duncan takes
place at night.
• This theme is closely related to the
"Fair and Foul" theme, because
to equivocate is to lie by
saying something that
sounds fair, but which has
a hidden, foul meaning.
• Macbeth cannot see his own
downfall in the making.
• He also tries to hide his crimes even
from himself.
• Macbeth sees the dagger that is not
really there.
• Nature and Unnatural – “nature” refers to
human nature.
o the entire play is about Macbeth’s
unnaturalness.
o It is unnatural, as well, for Lady Macbeth, a
woman, to be considering murder.
o Nature is disturbed when Duncan is
murdered.
o Unnatural night occurs the day after
Duncan’s death
• Shakespeare incorporates the supernatural
throughout the play:
o the first scene where the witches appear
o the next appearance and sudden
disappearance of the witches
o the dagger that appears to Macbeth seems
to be of supernatural origin
• Sleep is one of the foremost motifs in the
play:
o Duncan and servants are asleep when the
crimes are committed.
o Macbeth’s guilt makes him hear “Macbeth
has murdered sleep.”
o After Macbeth kills King Duncan, he says
“Macbeth shall sleep no more.”