William Freedman, in "The Literary Motif: A Definition and Evaluation," in Essentials of the Theory of Fiction, elaborates on this definition "[A motif] is generally -that is, it can be seen to carry a meaning beyond the  one immediately apparent; it represents on the verbal level something characteristic of the structure of the work, the events, the characters, the emotional effects, or the moral or cognitive content.... After he murders the king, restful, nurturing, restorative sleep (the sleep of the innocent) is no longer available to Macbeth.He has violated his own mora...

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