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MOTIF
The race car decor in your room, the refrain of a song, the idea or object that keeps popping up in a story — these are all motifs, reoccurring elements that move throughout and shape music, art and novels.
This French import is related to the Latin verb movere which means "to move." Think about a pattern or design that moves throughout something when you hear motif. Have you ever been to a restaurant with a tropical or wild-west motif? Do you like dresses with a floral motif? In novels, a motif can be a recurring idea like revenge or object that symbolizes an idea. A character might notice shadows throughout a story which symbolize his dark past.
From vocabulary.com
SYMBOL
A symbol can be an object, shape, sign, or character used to represent something else. A flag is a symbol of a country. English teachers never tire of talking about symbols in literature.
A pink ribbon is a symbol of breast-cancer awareness, and a yellow ribbon is a symbol of support for U.S. troops. In literature, authors use many symbols. A character doing even a small thing, like eating a cheeseburger, might symbolize something larger about that character. Something you need to be rich to have — like a limousine — is called a "status symbol." Anytime one thing seems to represent a deeper meaning, it's probably a symbol.
From vocabulary.com
motifs
motifs
EQUIVOCATION
The word equivocate comes from two Latin words aequus and vocare, which mean "equal" and "voice." When a person equivocates, they are being deliberately unclear. They say something with two equally possible meanings. As you read the play, trace this idea by marking every time people are deliberately ambiguous. Create a symbol to mark the text whenever you see this motif.
NATURE
Another big motif in the play is Nature. Elizabethans believed in a natural order of things, a Great Chain of Being. As you read, trace the idea of nature by marking places in your text when you see people seem "un-natural" or when nature (e.g. animals, the weather, etc.) reacts to events in the play. How and why does nature react unnaturally to people's actions in the play? How do characters defy nature or this "natural order" in the play and what are the results? Create a symbol to mark the text whenever you see this motif.
SYMBOLS
SYMBOLS
blood
blood
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's bloodiest plays, and for good reason: it is used as a symbol throughout. Consider Macbeth's initial regicidal regret; he wishes away his guilt, saying, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?" Later, the blood runs so deep that Macbeth imagines himself wading in it: "I am in blood / Stepp'd in so far..." What do you think blood symbolizes in the play? Create a symbol to mark the text whenever you see blood mentioned.
sleep
sleep
One of the first things Macbeth hears after he kills King Duncan is a voice crying out, "Sleep no more! Macbeth doth murder sleep!" What do you think the symbol of sleep and sleeplessness mean? What is being able to sleep associated with? Create a symbol to mark the text whenever you see sleep mentioned.
light/darkness
light/darkness
Macbeth is a dark play. Most obviously, the murder of Duncan takes place in the middle of the night, but what other scenes take place at night? In what other ways are tones of light and darkness woven into the play? Create a symbol to mark the text whenever you see light, shade, or darkness mentioned.
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