October 7, 2009


The Role of Motif in Literature

Motif (also known as Motive), an  important and sometimes recurring theme, contrast, or idea in a work of literature.  The motif is considered to be one of the principal literary devices of a narrative. Authors often use this device to develop and inform the text’s major themes.  For example, in Brave New World, Aldous Huxley repeatedly used the motif of sex to reinforce the theme of moral decline in the World State. Again, in The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne employed a number of evocative names (such as “Prynne” rhymes with “sin” ; “Dimmesdale” suggests “dimness”—weakness, indeterminacy, lack of insight, and lack of will) to establish the text's principal theme of sin and punishment.
Tanvir Shameem Tanvir Shameem is not the biggest fan of teaching, but he is doing his best to write on various topics of language and literature just to guide thousands of students and researchers across the globe. You can always find him experimenting with presentation, style and diction. He will contribute as long as time permits. You can find him on:

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Random Articles

  • Quotations by Percy Bysshe Shelley
    02/03/2017 - 0 Comments
    PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY, MAJOR ENGLISH ROMANTIC POET AND ONE OF THE GREATEST LYRIC POETS IN THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH…
  • The Poetic Imagery of Dylan Thomas
    01/01/2010 - 1 Comments
    Dylan Thomas is widely regarded as one of the 20th Century's most influential lyrical poets, and amongst the finest as…
  • John Donne Quick Facts
    14/04/2015 - 1 Comments
    John Donne 17th century English poet, prose writer, and clergyman, considered the greatest of the metaphysical…
  • The Lake Isle of Innisfree
    11/09/2009 - 1 Comments
    Introduction First published in the collection The Rose in 1893,"The Lake Isle of Innisfree" is an example of Yeats's…
  • Sophocles Quick Facts
    30/07/2012 - 0 Comments
    Sophocles Second of the three greatest ancient Greek writers of tragedy. Full Name: Sophocles Birth: 496 B.C.…