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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Key Examples in Much Ado About Nothing
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—A Merry War:
Through the motif of war, Shakespeare compares and contrasts courtship with battle. Benedick, Claudio, and the Prince make frequent references to war due to their recent arrival from the battlefield. In Messina, however, they find themselves in a completely different context. In Act 1, Scene 1, Claudio describes his newfound love of Hero as a shift in his perception: he stops using the eyes of a soldier and starts using those of a lover.
O, my lord,
When you went onward on this ended action,
I looked upon her with a soldier’s eye,
That liked, but had a rougher task in hand
Than to drive liking to the name of love.
But now I am returned and that war thoughts
Have left their places vacant, in their rooms
Come thronging soft and delicate desires,
All prompting me how fair young Hero is,
Saying I liked her ere I went to wars.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Cuckold's Horns:
In Much Ado About Nothing, the motif of cuckoldry not only contributes to the humor of the play but also illuminates the play's underlying anxiety about the prospect of women's infidelity.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Blind Cupid:
Allusions to Cupid abound in Much Ado About Nothing. As a god of love from classical mythology who is blind and armed with arrows, Cupid embodies the fickleness of love.
When Don Pedro declares in Act 1, Scene 1 that he will one day see Benedick "look pale with love", Benedick insists:
Unlock with LitCharts A+With anger, with sickness, or with hunger, my lord, not with love. Prove that ever I lose more blood with love than I will get again with drinking, pick out mine eyes with a ballad-maker’s pen and hang me up at the door of a brothel house for the sign of blind Cupid.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Marriage as Fashion:
The characters in Much Ado About Nothing frequently talk about fashion as a way of describing one's choice of a marital partner. The motif of fashion compares marital partners to clothing items that are donned and discarded on a whim.
In Act 2, Scene 1, for instance, the Prince jokingly asks Beatrice whether she would consider marrying him. She replies:
Unlock with LitCharts A+No, my lord, unless I might have another for working days. Your Grace is too costly to wear every day.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Marriage as Fashion:
The characters in Much Ado About Nothing frequently talk about fashion as a way of describing one's choice of a marital partner. The motif of fashion compares marital partners to clothing items that are donned and discarded on a whim.
In Act 2, Scene 1, for instance, the Prince jokingly asks Beatrice whether she would consider marrying him. She replies:
Unlock with LitCharts A+No, my lord, unless I might have another for working days. Your Grace is too costly to wear every day.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Noting Nothing :
Throughout the play, the motif of "noting" highlights the unreliability of human perception. The very title of the play is a pun on the word "nothing," which was pronounced "noting" (meaning "observing") in Shakespearean times and also referred to women's genitalia. The pun on "noting" appears most prominently in Act 2, Scene 3 in a witty exchange between Balthazar and the Prince:
Unlock with LitCharts A+BALTHAZAR: Note this before my notes:
There’s not a note of mine that’s worth the noting.PRINCE: Why, these are very crotchets that he speaks!
Note notes, forsooth, and nothing.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Sick in Love:
Using the motif of illness, Shakespeare portrays love as something contagious, troublesome, beyond one's control. This is particularly important in the case of Benedick and Beatrice, who fall in love with each other contrary to their aversion to each other.
Related Themes:
Act 3, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis:
In Act 3, Scene 1, Hero implements her side of the plot to make Beatrice and Benedick fall in love. Her use of rich figurative language contributes to the motif of war. She instructs Margaret to bring Beatrice to the "bower," where she will overhear a staged conversation between Hero and Ursula in which they reveal that Benedick is already smitten with her.
Unlock with LitCharts A+Say that thou overheardst us,
And bid her steal into the pleachèd bower
Where honeysuckles ripened by the sun
Forbid the sun to enter, like favorites,
Made proud by princes, that advance their pride
Against that power that bred it. There will she hide her
To listen our purpose.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—A Merry War:
Through the motif of war, Shakespeare compares and contrasts courtship with battle. Benedick, Claudio, and the Prince make frequent references to war due to their recent arrival from the battlefield. In Messina, however, they find themselves in a completely different context. In Act 1, Scene 1, Claudio describes his newfound love of Hero as a shift in his perception: he stops using the eyes of a soldier and starts using those of a lover.
Unlock with LitCharts A+O, my lord,
When you went onward on this ended action,
I looked upon her with a soldier’s eye,
That liked, but had a rougher task in hand
Than to drive liking to the name of love.
But now I am returned and that war thoughts
Have left their places vacant, in their rooms
Come thronging soft and delicate desires,
All prompting me how fair young Hero is,
Saying I liked her ere I went to wars.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Sick in Love:
Using the motif of illness, Shakespeare portrays love as something contagious, troublesome, beyond one's control. This is particularly important in the case of Benedick and Beatrice, who fall in love with each other contrary to their aversion to each other.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Blind Cupid:
Allusions to Cupid abound in Much Ado About Nothing. As a god of love from classical mythology who is blind and armed with arrows, Cupid embodies the fickleness of love.
When Don Pedro declares in Act 1, Scene 1 that he will one day see Benedick "look pale with love", Benedick insists:
Unlock with LitCharts A+With anger, with sickness, or with hunger, my lord, not with love. Prove that ever I lose more blood with love than I will get again with drinking, pick out mine eyes with a ballad-maker’s pen and hang me up at the door of a brothel house for the sign of blind Cupid.
Related Themes:
Act 3, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Sick in Love:
Using the motif of illness, Shakespeare portrays love as something contagious, troublesome, beyond one's control. This is particularly important in the case of Benedick and Beatrice, who fall in love with each other contrary to their aversion to each other.
Related Themes:
Act 3, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Sick in Love:
Using the motif of illness, Shakespeare portrays love as something contagious, troublesome, beyond one's control. This is particularly important in the case of Benedick and Beatrice, who fall in love with each other contrary to their aversion to each other.
Related Themes:
Act 4, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Noting Nothing :
Throughout the play, the motif of "noting" highlights the unreliability of human perception. The very title of the play is a pun on the word "nothing," which was pronounced "noting" (meaning "observing") in Shakespearean times and also referred to women's genitalia. The pun on "noting" appears most prominently in Act 2, Scene 3 in a witty exchange between Balthazar and the Prince:
Unlock with LitCharts A+BALTHAZAR: Note this before my notes:
There’s not a note of mine that’s worth the noting.PRINCE: Why, these are very crotchets that he speaks!
Note notes, forsooth, and nothing.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Cuckold's Horns:
In Much Ado About Nothing, the motif of cuckoldry not only contributes to the humor of the play but also illuminates the play's underlying anxiety about the prospect of women's infidelity.
Related Themes:
