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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 2
Explanation and Analysis—Mistress Mary:
The novel often alludes to the nursery rhyme "Mistress Mary Quite Contrary," using it to underscore the changes in character that Mary Lennox undergoes. These allusions create a running motif that functions as a shorthand for whenever the narrator wants to indicate that Mary is misbehaving. This first comes up in Chapter 2, when one of the Crawford children becomes annoyed with Mary's bad attitude and starts to tease her. It unfortunately sticks so much that even their parents take it up:
“She is such a plain child,” Mrs. Crawford said pityingly, afterward. “And her mother was such a pretty creature. She had a very pretty manner, too, and Mary has the most unattractive ways I ever saw in a child. The children call her ‘Mistress Mary Quite Contrary,’ and though it’s naughty of them, one can’t help understanding it.”
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Acting Beautifully:
In The Secret Garden, the author creates a strong correlation between people's physical appearance and their psychological state: changing one's mindset and behavior, she argues, can literally change one's body. This is related to the author's Christian Scientist belief in the ability of prayer and positive thinking to change physical attributes and overcome illness. In this book, the state of the body echoes the state of mind. In Chapter 2, the mother of the "clergyman's family" who takes Mary in after the death of her parents remarks:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Perhaps if her mother had carried her pretty face and her pretty manners oftener into the nursery Mary might have learned some pretty ways too. It is very sad, now the poor beautiful thing is gone, to remember that many people never even knew that she had a child at all.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—The Bare Moors:
The moors, which seems bare and unforgiving to the untrained eye (but are actually a location of life and vitality) serve as a motif denoting experiential knowledge in many places in the novel. For example, in Chapter 4, when Mary is first asking the housemaid Martha about the vast landscape that she can see from her bedroom window, she comments that it seems barren and lifeless. Martha, affronted, contradicts her:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“That’s because tha’rt not used to it,” Martha said, going back to her hearth. “Tha’ thinks it’s too big an’ bare now. But tha’ will like it.” “Do you?” inquired Mary. “Aye, that I do,” answered Martha, cheerfully polishing away at the grate. “I just love it. It’s none bare. It’s covered wi’ growin’ things as smells sweet."
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Silenced Servants :
Silent and silenced Indian characters appear as a motif throughout The Secret Garden. In Burnett's novel, although phrases from British Colonial India often occur, they are never presented as "speech" or dialogue by an actual Indian person. Rather, because of the oppressive nature of British rule in India, Mary Lennox remembers her Indian companions as being impenetrably silent and implacable. For example, in contrast to the cheeky and chatty Martha in Chapter 4, Mary thinks back to the attendants she had been used to:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The native servants she had been used to in India were not in the least like this. They were obsequious and servile and did not presume to talk to their masters as if they were their equals. They made salaams and called them “protector of the poor” and names of that sort. Indian servants were commanded to do things, not asked. It was not the custom to say “please” and “thank you” and Mary had always slapped her Ayah in the face when she was angry.
Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Thinking New Things:
The phrase "new things" is repeated many times in The Secret Garden, and occurs always when Mary Lennox encounters someone else's behavior that makes her stop and reflect on her own. Burnett's novel employs a few phrases that work like this, forming a shorthand for a much larger concept that would belabor the point if explained to the reader every time. An example of this idiomatic motif happens when Martha scolds Mary for being unable to dress herself properly in Chapter 6:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Hasn’t tha’ got good sense?” she said once, when Mary had stood waiting for her to put on her gloves for her. “Our Susan Ann is twice as sharp as thee an’ she’s only four year’ old. Sometimes tha’ looks fair soft in th’ head.” Mary had worn her contrary scowl for an hour after that, but it made her think several entirely new things.
Related Themes:
Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—The Bare Moors:
The moors, which seems bare and unforgiving to the untrained eye (but are actually a location of life and vitality) serve as a motif denoting experiential knowledge in many places in the novel. For example, in Chapter 4, when Mary is first asking the housemaid Martha about the vast landscape that she can see from her bedroom window, she comments that it seems barren and lifeless. Martha, affronted, contradicts her:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“That’s because tha’rt not used to it,” Martha said, going back to her hearth. “Tha’ thinks it’s too big an’ bare now. But tha’ will like it.” “Do you?” inquired Mary. “Aye, that I do,” answered Martha, cheerfully polishing away at the grate. “I just love it. It’s none bare. It’s covered wi’ growin’ things as smells sweet."
Related Themes:
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Silenced Servants :
Silent and silenced Indian characters appear as a motif throughout The Secret Garden. In Burnett's novel, although phrases from British Colonial India often occur, they are never presented as "speech" or dialogue by an actual Indian person. Rather, because of the oppressive nature of British rule in India, Mary Lennox remembers her Indian companions as being impenetrably silent and implacable. For example, in contrast to the cheeky and chatty Martha in Chapter 4, Mary thinks back to the attendants she had been used to:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The native servants she had been used to in India were not in the least like this. They were obsequious and servile and did not presume to talk to their masters as if they were their equals. They made salaams and called them “protector of the poor” and names of that sort. Indian servants were commanded to do things, not asked. It was not the custom to say “please” and “thank you” and Mary had always slapped her Ayah in the face when she was angry.
Chapter 23
Explanation and Analysis—The Magic:
In the second half of The Secret Garden, Colin, Mary, and Dickon have all become fast friends in the common pursuit of restoring the "secret garden" and healing Colin's infirmity. Mary and Colin are learning from and working with each other to improve their health and the "faults" in their personalities. Through this, they develop an idea about how the world can be made to work better for all people willing to "improve" themselves. They call the force that operates behind this "the Magic," and the phrase remains present as a motif for the rest of the book. In Chapter 23, titled "Magic," the following exchange occurs:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“I shall stop being queer,” he said, “if I go every day to the garden. There is Magic in there—good Magic, you know, Mary. I am sure there is.” “So am I,” said Mary. “Even if it isn’t real Magic,” Colin said, “we can pretend it is. Something is there—something!” “It’s Magic,” said Mary, “but not black. It’s as white as snow.” They always called it Magic and indeed it seemed like it in the months that followed—the wonderful months—the radiant months—the amazing ones.
Related Themes:
Chapter 26
Explanation and Analysis—Physical Disability:
The Secret Garden has been criticized for its motif of incapacitated or disabled bodies as being less worthy of life and less desirable than those of able-bodied people. When the children explain their plan to reveal Colin's new-found strength and movement as a result of "the Magic" to Susan in Chapter 27, Colin tells her delightedly that:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“I felt so joyful,” said Colin, opening his beautiful strange eyes at her. “Suddenly I felt how different I was—how strong my arms and legs were, you know—and how I could dig and stand—and I jumped up and wanted to shout out something to anything that would listen.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 27
Explanation and Analysis—Thinking New Things:
The phrase "new things" is repeated many times in The Secret Garden, and occurs always when Mary Lennox encounters someone else's behavior that makes her stop and reflect on her own. Burnett's novel employs a few phrases that work like this, forming a shorthand for a much larger concept that would belabor the point if explained to the reader every time. An example of this idiomatic motif happens when Martha scolds Mary for being unable to dress herself properly in Chapter 6:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Hasn’t tha’ got good sense?” she said once, when Mary had stood waiting for her to put on her gloves for her. “Our Susan Ann is twice as sharp as thee an’ she’s only four year’ old. Sometimes tha’ looks fair soft in th’ head.” Mary had worn her contrary scowl for an hour after that, but it made her think several entirely new things.
Related Themes:
