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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 Vanity Fair
Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—For the Birds:
Throughout Vanity Fair, the narrator metaphorically compares a number of female characters, especially Becky and Amelia, to birds. In Chapter 12, he describes Becky as a hawk on the hunt and Amelia as some sort of young, nesting bird:
Snares or shot may take off the old birds foraging without – hawks may be abroad, from which they escape or by whom they suffer; but the young ones in the nest have a pretty comfortable unromantic sort of existence in the down and the straw, till it comes to their turn, too, to get on the wing. While Becky Sharp was on her own wing in the country, hopping on all sorts of twigs, and amid a multiplicity of traps, and pecking up her food quite harmless and successful, Amelia lay snug in her home at Russell Square;
Related Themes:
