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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
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Undead Danvers:
The narrator frequently uses death-like imagery to describe Mrs. Danvers. The first instance of this motif occurs in Chapter 7, when the narrator first meets the housekeeper:
Someone advanced from the sea of faces, someone tall and gaunt, dressed in deep black, whose prominent cheek-bones and great, hollow eyes gave her a skull’s face, parchment-white, set on a skeleton’s frame.
She came towards me, and I held out my hand, envying her for her dignity and her composure; but when she took my hand hers was limp and heavy, deathly cold, and it lay in mine like a lifeless thing.
Related Themes:
Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—Intimate Traces:
Throughout the book, the narrator is often shaken by small, intimate traces of Rebecca's presence at Manderley. One instance of this motif occurs in Chapter 10, when the narrator pulls a handkerchief out of the pocket of a coat that once belonged to Rebecca:
Unlock with LitCharts A+There was a pink mark upon the handkerchief. The mark of lipstick. She had rubbed her lips with the handkerchief, and then rolled it in a ball, and left it in the pocket. I wiped my fingers with the handkerchief, and as I did so I noticed that a dull scent clung about it still. A scent I recognized, a scent I knew. I shut my eyes and tried to remember. It was something elusive, something faint and fragrant that I could not name. I had breathed it before, touched it surely, that very afternoon.
Related Themes:
Chapter 17
Explanation and Analysis—Blank Canvas:
The narrator's own artistry is a motif in the novel and contributes to the sense that she might be an unreliable narrator at times. For example, after she changes out of the infamous white dress in Chapter 17, she describes the rest of her evening as though it is a painting:
Unlock with LitCharts A+When I look back at my first party at Manderley, my first and my last, I can remember little isolated things standing alone out of the vast blank canvas of the evening.
Related Themes:
