Motifs Project for Romeo and Juliet ~ Honors 9th Lit / Minich

Due: Wednesday, 3-30 (presentations are optional)

A Motif is a recurring idea or concept in a piece of literature. It has to show up repeatedly in the text to be considered a motif. Some examples of motifs in Romeo and Juliet are:

Light vs. dark

Loyalty

Appearance vs. reality

Secrecy

Dramatic Irony

Mythological allusions

Religious allusions / references

Playful banter (conversations between friends)

Nature

Dreams

The Moon

Fate

Gender Roles

Social Classes

Astronomy / Astrology

Violence

Nighttime

Revenge

Old versus Young

Head versus Heart

Duality

Impatience

Importance of names

Your 2-Part Project:

Part 1: Choose a motif from the list above (or choose your own). Find 3 examples of the motif at work in the play. Write a brief explanation/ analysis of your three chosen examples (break your page up into three sections; 1 section per motif. See example on back). In your explanation, look at CONTEXT (summarize what’s happening in the quote) and ANALYSIS (how this example affects characters, plot, outcome, etc.)

Part 2: Create a visual that shows how your motif functions in the play, how it affects the characters, plot, outcome, etc. Creativity and thought/ effort are highly encouraged for an A. Experiment with different mediums that would work well with your chosen motif.

MLA Heading

Sample Motif Explanation Paper: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Motif Choice: Hallucinations

Example 1: Act 1, scene 3, lines 39-47

How far is’t called to forres? What are these,
So withered, and so wild in their attire,
That look not like the inhabitants o’ the earth.
And yet are on’t? Live you? Or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to understand me,
By each at once her choppy finger laying
Upon her skinny lips. You should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.

In this scene, Banquo expresses that he is not sure of the witches’ actual existence when he asks them whether they are alive or not and tells them that their appearances prove otherwise. He tells them that they all appear as women but their beards, their expressions, and their clothing support differently. The prophecies of the witches deal with Macbeth’s future as Thane and King, which could be proved to be imagined by Macbeth and Banquo.This moment in the play is significant because it lays the groundwork for other hallucinations later in the play, which, when experienced by Macbeth, drastically affect his sanity and in turn, the tragic outcome of the play.

Example 2: Act 2, scene 1, lines 33-43

Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee!
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.
Thou marshal’st me the way that I was going,
And such an instrument I was to use.

In this scene, which takes place in the middle of the night when Macbeth should be sleeping, Macbeth famously hallucinates a dagger and asks if he may “clutch thee.” Shakespeare uses apostrophe here as Macbeth asks the dagger if it is real or merely a “dagger of the mind.” The dagger seems to be leading him down his already murderous path. In hisvision of this dagger (his instrument for the murder)the bloody and difficult course in which Macbeth will face by killing King Duncan is represented.Also important to question is to what extent the insomnia, which Macbeth experiences throughout the play, causes the hallucinations. Here, a lack of sleep is directly tied to his hallucination of the dagger, and since sleep is fundamental in good decision-making, it is possible that his inability to sleep causes him to hallucinate, which in turn may play a part in the murder of the king.

Example 3: Act 3, Scene 4, lines 70-74

Prithee see there! behold! look! lo! How say you?
Why, what care i? If thou canst nod, speak too.
If charnel houses and our graves must send
Those that we bury back, our monuments
Shall be the maws of kites.

In this scene, Macbeth has ascended to the throne and sits at a banquet table with the court to honor his new position. While at the table, he hallucinates the ghost of Banquo, whom he had murdered. It is obvious by the erratic nature of his speech that Macbeth’s sanity is quickly unravelling. Further playing tricks on Macbeth’s psyche, the ghost doesn’t speak, but simply sits in an empty chair. Macbeth is forced to wonder at the meaning of this experience but is given no definitive answers. Additionally, no one can see the ghost except Macbeth, and this vision of Banquo’s ghost at the feast is a constant reminder to him that he committed murder towards his former friend. This outburst weakens his credibility with his court, which sets the stage for his army to abandon him later in the play, giving way to a forcible takeover.