Wednesday, April 9, 2014

How is a motif different from a theme?

Motifs and themes are deeply interconnected; however motifs can be understood as a literary device that is deployed in order to build or concretize a particular theme—whereby the theme is the central message, motifs are the repetition of specific symbols, images, or ideas. However, it is important to note that not all symbols, images, and ideas are motifs; they may also be a metaphor or used to represent the meaning of some real thing (unrestricted...

Motifs and themes are deeply interconnected; however motifs can be understood as a literary device that is deployed in order to build or concretize a particular theme—whereby the theme is the central message, motifs are the repetition of specific symbols, images, or ideas. However, it is important to note that not all symbols, images, and ideas are motifs; they may also be a metaphor or used to represent the meaning of some real thing (unrestricted by the context of text)—it is only when they are recurring and allude back to the overarching plot that symbols become motifs. The presentation of motifs can be either in the form of a single object, a collection of related objects, or even a collection of seemingly unrelated objects. 

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