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The World's Wife Motifs

Motifs and symbols tracked across analyzed chapters, with links back to chapter summaries and chapter analysis pages.

stone

4 occurrencespersistent

blood

3 occurrencespersistent

chains

2 occurrencespersistent

dreams

2 occurrencesemerging

loneliness

2 occurrencespersistent

mirror reflection

2 occurrencespersistent

silence

2 occurrencesemerging

amber eyes

1 occurrencessingle-hit

ambiguous identity

1 occurrencessingle-hit

animal fables

1 occurrencessingle-hit

animal symbols

1 occurrencessingle-hit

animals as omens

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Ark

1 occurrencessingle-hit

ass

1 occurrencessingle-hit

ass ass

1 occurrencessingle-hit

axe

1 occurrencessingle-hit

axe with black heart

1 occurrencessingle-hit

baby

1 occurrencessingle-hit

bare feet

1 occurrencessingle-hit

bathroom window

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Beasts

1 occurrencessingle-hit

bee

1 occurrencessingle-hit

bells

1 occurrencessingle-hit

bells as voice/faith

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Bible

1 occurrencessingle-hit

bird in hand

1 occurrencessingle-hit

black full stop

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Black Queen

1 occurrencessingle-hit

black ships as fate

1 occurrencessingle-hit

black tie

1 occurrencessingle-hit

blacksmith's face

1 occurrencessingle-hit

blue flame

1 occurrencessingle-hit

blue suede shoes

1 occurrencessingle-hit

blue‑green smoke

1 occurrencessingle-hit

body shame

1 occurrencessingle-hit

books/poetry

1 occurrencessingle-hit

boots

1 occurrencessingle-hit

booze and cigarettes

1 occurrencessingle-hit

broken heart

1 occurrencessingle-hit

burial of a doll

1 occurrencessingle-hit

candle wax

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Cannonball Vi

1 occurrencessingle-hit

cathedral as societal order

1 occurrencessingle-hit

chain as confinement

1 occurrencessingle-hit

chains and imprisonment

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Château Margaux ‘54

1 occurrencessingle-hit

claw-like nails

1 occurrencessingle-hit

cleaning ritual

1 occurrencessingle-hit

climbing heights

1 occurrencessingle-hit

cloak of poem

1 occurrencessingle-hit

cloned sheep

1 occurrencessingle-hit

clothing as loss

1 occurrencessingle-hit

cold stone room

1 occurrencessingle-hit

cold/ice

1 occurrencessingle-hit

crimson mouth (seduction)

1 occurrencessingle-hit

crimson throat

1 occurrencessingle-hit

crowd

1 occurrencessingle-hit

cuckoo call

1 occurrencessingle-hit

culinary preparation

1 occurrencessingle-hit

cutting off tail

1 occurrencessingle-hit

dark humor

1 occurrencessingle-hit

darkening hour

1 occurrencessingle-hit

death‑to‑life ascent

1 occurrencessingle-hit

devil/wife power dynamic

1 occurrencessingle-hit

dirk

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Dog

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Dog Star

1 occurrencessingle-hit

doll

1 occurrencessingle-hit

dragon

1 occurrencessingle-hit

ear as listening/awareness

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Eastern star

1 occurrencessingle-hit

emerald eyes

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Empire State Building

1 occurrencessingle-hit

fairy‑tale archetypes

1 occurrencessingle-hit

fire/wax

1 occurrencessingle-hit

flight

1 occurrencessingle-hit

flowers

1 occurrencessingle-hit

fluid identity

1 occurrencessingle-hit

food and drink

1 occurrencessingle-hit

frozen lake

1 occurrencessingle-hit

gambling cards

1 occurrencessingle-hit

gardening

1 occurrencessingle-hit

ghostly hauntings

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Gifts

1 occurrencessingle-hit

glass heart

1 occurrencessingle-hit

glasses/shades

1 occurrencessingle-hit

glittering ball

1 occurrencessingle-hit

gold

1 occurrencessingle-hit

golden chalice

1 occurrencessingle-hit

golden pear

1 occurrencessingle-hit

grace

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Graceland

1 occurrencessingle-hit

grandmother's bones

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Greek myth references

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Gregorian chant

1 occurrencessingle-hit

habit

1 occurrencessingle-hit

hair as control

1 occurrencessingle-hit

hair cutting

1 occurrencessingle-hit

hammer/pliers as tools of vengeance

1 occurrencessingle-hit

hand

1 occurrencessingle-hit

hands

1 occurrencessingle-hit

hare thump

1 occurrencessingle-hit

hawk/shark metaphor

1 occurrencessingle-hit

head on a platter (death)

1 occurrencessingle-hit

head on pillow

1 occurrencessingle-hit

hill

1 occurrencessingle-hit

holy host

1 occurrencessingle-hit

ice

1 occurrencessingle-hit

idiomatic sayings

1 occurrencessingle-hit

incense smoke

1 occurrencessingle-hit

infidelity

1 occurrencessingle-hit

inheritance

1 occurrencessingle-hit

isolation

1 occurrencessingle-hit

jackdaw

1 occurrencessingle-hit

jealousy

1 occurrencessingle-hit

key chain

1 occurrencessingle-hit

ladder as ascent/descent

1 occurrencessingle-hit

lake

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Leaning Tower

1 occurrencessingle-hit

legal appeals

1 occurrencessingle-hit

letters/official petitions

1 occurrencessingle-hit

light and fire

1 occurrencessingle-hit

locked cat

1 occurrencessingle-hit

London landmarks

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Lonely Street

1 occurrencessingle-hit

looking back

1 occurrencessingle-hit

lyre

1 occurrencessingle-hit

maid (innocence)

1 occurrencessingle-hit

medals as past trauma

1 occurrencessingle-hit

medicine

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Medusa

1 occurrencessingle-hit

memorialization

1 occurrencessingle-hit

miraculous birth

1 occurrencessingle-hit

mirror

1 occurrencessingle-hit

mirror (self‑examination)

1 occurrencessingle-hit

mirror as distorted self‑image

1 occurrencessingle-hit

mirror imagery

1 occurrencessingle-hit

mirror self‑scrutiny

1 occurrencessingle-hit

mirrored self

1 occurrencessingle-hit

mockery

1 occurrencessingle-hit

monstrous sexuality

1 occurrencessingle-hit

moon

1 occurrencessingle-hit

moon as hand‑mirror

1 occurrencessingle-hit

moon edge

1 occurrencessingle-hit

moral instruction

1 occurrencessingle-hit

music performances

1 occurrencessingle-hit

musical reference

1 occurrencessingle-hit

mythic allusion

1 occurrencessingle-hit

nature as omen

1 occurrencessingle-hit

new moon

1 occurrencessingle-hit

night

1 occurrencessingle-hit

night and darkness

1 occurrencessingle-hit

nightclubs

1 occurrencessingle-hit

nostalgia

1 occurrencessingle-hit

obsessive love

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Orion

1 occurrencessingle-hit

pact with the devil

1 occurrencessingle-hit

painted nails

1 occurrencessingle-hit

painting

1 occurrencessingle-hit

papal chair

1 occurrencessingle-hit

papal hierarchy

1 occurrencessingle-hit

parrots

1 occurrencessingle-hit

pastel of Niagara

1 occurrencessingle-hit

peach voice

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Peacock scream

1 occurrencessingle-hit

pearls

1 occurrencessingle-hit

pearls and bells

1 occurrencessingle-hit

pearls as rosary

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Penelope

1 occurrencessingle-hit

perfumed water

1 occurrencessingle-hit

period cycles

1 occurrencessingle-hit

pewter coldness (emptiness)

1 occurrencessingle-hit

photograph

1 occurrencessingle-hit

pig as desire/greed

1 occurrencessingle-hit

pig imagery

1 occurrencessingle-hit

pillows

1 occurrencessingle-hit

poetic forms

1 occurrencessingle-hit

prayer/rosary

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Prophecy

1 occurrencessingle-hit

public performance

1 occurrencessingle-hit

publisher‑god analogy

1 occurrencessingle-hit

purple‑to‑grey light

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Pyramids

1 occurrencessingle-hit

queen of clubs/spades

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Queens

1 occurrencessingle-hit

race metaphor

1 occurrencessingle-hit

red cape

1 occurrencessingle-hit

red garment

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Red moon

1 occurrencessingle-hit

red sheets

1 occurrencessingle-hit

red sheets (blood/violence)

1 occurrencessingle-hit

religious ceremony

1 occurrencessingle-hit

repeated death imagery

1 occurrencessingle-hit

repetition of denial

1 occurrencessingle-hit

repetitive labor

1 occurrencessingle-hit

rings on hands

1 occurrencessingle-hit

ritual language

1 occurrencessingle-hit

ritual of bereavement

1 occurrencessingle-hit

ritualized care

1 occurrencessingle-hit

River

1 occurrencessingle-hit

road

1 occurrencessingle-hit

rolling stone

1 occurrencessingle-hit

rosary

1 occurrencessingle-hit

rotten shroud

1 occurrencessingle-hit

scar

1 occurrencessingle-hit

scar over heart

1 occurrencessingle-hit

scarlessness

1 occurrencessingle-hit

scissors as agency

1 occurrencessingle-hit

sea and ships

1 occurrencessingle-hit

sea as longing

1 occurrencessingle-hit

seasonal decay

1 occurrencessingle-hit

self‑transformation

1 occurrencessingle-hit

serpent

1 occurrencessingle-hit

sexual abstinence

1 occurrencessingle-hit

shade

1 occurrencessingle-hit

shield

1 occurrencessingle-hit

shower

1 occurrencessingle-hit

silence and sound contrast

1 occurrencessingle-hit

silencing voice

1 occurrencessingle-hit

silk purse/sow’s ear

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Sinatra’s voice

1 occurrencessingle-hit

sky

1 occurrencessingle-hit

smart bombs

1 occurrencessingle-hit

snakes

1 occurrencessingle-hit

snakes (hair)

1 occurrencessingle-hit

snoring

1 occurrencessingle-hit

spices as memory

1 occurrencessingle-hit

spring flowers

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Starfish made from infant’s fist

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Stars

1 occurrencessingle-hit

statue

1 occurrencessingle-hit

stone sinking

1 occurrencessingle-hit

stone/ivory

1 occurrencessingle-hit

stones in belly

1 occurrencessingle-hit

storm/thunder

1 occurrencessingle-hit

substance abuse

1 occurrencessingle-hit

tail

1 occurrencessingle-hit

terracotta tiles

1 occurrencessingle-hit

the Austin Princess

1 occurrencessingle-hit

the Beast

1 occurrencessingle-hit

the club name "Prickteasers"

1 occurrencessingle-hit

The Devil

1 occurrencessingle-hit

the silent belfry as void

1 occurrencessingle-hit

thorns

1 occurrencessingle-hit

thorns crown

1 occurrencessingle-hit

tomb of Tutankhamun

1 occurrencessingle-hit

tongue as speech and seduction

1 occurrencessingle-hit

tongue/language

1 occurrencessingle-hit

tortoise

1 occurrencessingle-hit

transformation

1 occurrencessingle-hit

transubstantiation

1 occurrencessingle-hit

travel landmarks

1 occurrencessingle-hit

tweed jacket

1 occurrencessingle-hit

twin identity

1 occurrencessingle-hit

underworld shadow

1 occurrencessingle-hit

uplift and fall

1 occurrencessingle-hit

urban jungle contrast

1 occurrencessingle-hit

vast lake

1 occurrencessingle-hit

Viagra

1 occurrencessingle-hit

vintage fashion

1 occurrencessingle-hit

violence

1 occurrencessingle-hit

virtual Helen of Troy

1 occurrencessingle-hit

war medals

1 occurrencessingle-hit

washing

1 occurrencessingle-hit

water

1 occurrencessingle-hit

wealth accumulation

1 occurrencessingle-hit

white dove

1 occurrencessingle-hit

white femur

1 occurrencessingle-hit

wimple

1 occurrencessingle-hit

wine drinking

1 occurrencessingle-hit

wolf

1 occurrencessingle-hit

woods

1 occurrencessingle-hit

yacht

1 occurrencessingle-hit