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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 The Winter's Tale
Motifs
Explanation and Analysis—Redemption:
The play's motif of loss raises the question of whether Leontes's actions in the first three Acts can ever be redeemed. A crucial factor in his redemption is the loss and recovery of Perdita. Believing that she is Polixenes's child rather than his own, Leontes instructs Antigonus in Act 3, Scene 2 to leave her to the mercy of the elements on a deserted coast. Before abandoning her, Antigonus gives Perdita her name because "the babe / Is counted lost forever." Since Perdita's name means "the lost one" in Latin and "loss" in Italian, it foregrounds the question of whether Leontes can ever reconstruct the family he destroyed by reuniting with his lost daughter, thus making amends for his past crimes.
Related Themes:
Motifs
Explanation and Analysis—Acting and Disguises:
In Acts 4 and 5, multiple characters disguise themselves: Camillo and Polixenes to spy on Florizell and Perdita at the shepherd's cottage, Autolycus as a nobleman to swindle the Shepherd and his son, and Perdita and Florizell to travel to Sicily. A generic convention of the Shakespearean comedy, this use of disguises generates dramatic irony, thus contributing to both the suspense and the humorous tone of the last two Acts. Moreover, by creating mishaps around mistaken identities and obstructing the characters' access to the truth, the use of disguises highlights the unreliability of perception that provoked Leontes's downfall: once convinced of Hermione's unfaithfulness, no amount of evidence could persuade him to see the truth.
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Related Themes:
Act 1, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Childhood Innocence:
The characters of "The Winter's Tale" often describe childhood as a time of innocence untainted by sin. In Act 1, Scene 1, Polixenes describes his childhood with Leontes with an attitude of longing for a simpler time:
Unlock with LitCharts A+We were as twinned lambs that did frisk i’ th’ sun
And bleat the one at th’ other. What we changed
Was innocence for innocence. We knew not
The doctrine of ill-doing, nor dreamed
That any did. Had we pursued that life,
And our weak spirits ne’er been higher reared
With stronger blood, we should have answered heaven
Boldly “Not guilty,” the imposition cleared
Hereditary ours.
Related Themes:
Act 3, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Negation:
Through the motif of negation, "The Winter's Tale" illuminates how irrational human beliefs can be even in the face of clear evidence, as well as the female characters' lack of control over their own sexual reputations. Once Leontes falls prey to his unfounded belief that Hermione and Polixenes are having an affair, Hermione and Paulina find that their words can no longer persuade him to see the truth. In fact, Leontes asserts in Act 1, Scene 2 that a woman's word is always false: "Women say so, / That will say anything." As a result, the more Hermione claims that she is innocent, the more intractable Leontes's delusions become.
Instead, both Hermione and Paulina recuperate the power of their language by speaking only through negation. For example, when Hermione testifies in her own defense in Act 3, Scene 2, she declares:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Since what I am to say must be but that
Which contradicts my accusation, and
The testimony on my part no other
But what comes from myself, it shall scarce boot me
To say “Not guilty"
Related Themes:
Act 5, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Resurrection:
In Act 5, Scene 1, Paulina reminds Leontes of the magnitude of his loss of Hermione. Leontes declares that he will never marry again because doing so would anger the ghost of his late wife:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Thou speak’st truth.
No more such wives, therefore no wife. One worse,
And better used, would make her sainted spirit
Again possess her corpse, and on this stage,
Where we offenders now appear, soul-vexed,
And begin “Why to me?”
Related Themes:
