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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Gooseberry Wine:
One of the novel's central motifs is gooseberry wine, which symbolizes rural culture and tradition, the family's humble origins, and their simple approach to hospitality. Dr. Primrose introduces the motif early in the first chapter, connecting it right away to their modest yet generous treatment of guests:
As we lived near the road, we often had the traveller or stranger visit us to taste our gooseberry wine, for which we had great reputation; and I profess with the veracity of an historian, that I never knew one of them find fault with it.
This universal appreciation for the family's gooseberry wine shows that people like visiting the Primroses. By expressing that his family has a great reputation for gooseberry wine, Dr. Primrose states between the lines that his family has a great reputation for hospitality. Abundant in Britain, gooseberries were an inexpensive ingredient to make wine with. Always having a bottle of gooseberry wine to treat guests with doesn't indicate that the family is affluent, but rather that they share what they have with people who cross their threshold.
After the family is forced to move, Dr. Primrose describes his family settling in to their new neighborhood in the fourth chapter. In this account, he again invokes the motif of gooseberry wine to show that their move did not disrupt their penchant for hospitality:
Nor were we without guests: sometimes farmer Flamborough, our talkative neighbour, and often the blind piper, would pay us a visit, and taste our gooseberry wine; for the making of which we had lost neither the receipt nor the reputation.
Even if they have moved to a new place, the family continues to be known for their gooseberry wine and, by extension, their warm treatment of guests. In the 17th chapter, as the family sits around the fireplace making plans for the future, Dr. Primrose calls for the opening of a bottle of gooseberry wine to enjoy as his son sings an elegy:
[...] let us have a bottle of the best gooseberry wine, to keep up our spirits. I have wept so much at all sorts of elegies of late, that without an enlivening glass I am sure this will overcome me.
Associating gooseberry wine with warmth and community, Dr. Primrose drinks it when he wants to enliven his spirits. This touching moment of family peace precedes a subsequent moment of drama, in which Dick announces that Olivia has run off with a man.
Dr. Primrose usually describes his wife serving the gooseberry wine, linking it with gender roles. When the landlord visits, for example, it is Deborah who insists that he "[taste] a glass of her gooseberry." And when he recounts Mr. Burchell's frequent visits, he notes that she is "not sparing of her gooseberry wine." Although the family enacts hospitality together, they have clearly defined tasks when entertaining guests. A product of the kitchen, gooseberry wine is associated with women—and producing good wine is promoted as an attractive feminine trait. On Squire Thornhill's visits, Deborah tries to elevate the allure of Olivia by claiming that she made the gooseberry wine.
However, the gooseberry is not necessarily a limit imposed on Deborah and the Primrose daughters. In fact, these parts suggest that Deborah is content to have complete agency over a domain that directly shapes their reputation as a family. In a way, it is possible to see the clearly defined roles as evidence of the relative equality and mutual respect that exists in the Primrose marriage. Dr. Primrose gives credit to his wife for what she produces and does.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Gooseberry Wine:
One of the novel's central motifs is gooseberry wine, which symbolizes rural culture and tradition, the family's humble origins, and their simple approach to hospitality. Dr. Primrose introduces the motif early in the first chapter, connecting it right away to their modest yet generous treatment of guests:
As we lived near the road, we often had the traveller or stranger visit us to taste our gooseberry wine, for which we had great reputation; and I profess with the veracity of an historian, that I never knew one of them find fault with it.
This universal appreciation for the family's gooseberry wine shows that people like visiting the Primroses. By expressing that his family has a great reputation for gooseberry wine, Dr. Primrose states between the lines that his family has a great reputation for hospitality. Abundant in Britain, gooseberries were an inexpensive ingredient to make wine with. Always having a bottle of gooseberry wine to treat guests with doesn't indicate that the family is affluent, but rather that they share what they have with people who cross their threshold.
After the family is forced to move, Dr. Primrose describes his family settling in to their new neighborhood in the fourth chapter. In this account, he again invokes the motif of gooseberry wine to show that their move did not disrupt their penchant for hospitality:
Nor were we without guests: sometimes farmer Flamborough, our talkative neighbour, and often the blind piper, would pay us a visit, and taste our gooseberry wine; for the making of which we had lost neither the receipt nor the reputation.
Even if they have moved to a new place, the family continues to be known for their gooseberry wine and, by extension, their warm treatment of guests. In the 17th chapter, as the family sits around the fireplace making plans for the future, Dr. Primrose calls for the opening of a bottle of gooseberry wine to enjoy as his son sings an elegy:
[...] let us have a bottle of the best gooseberry wine, to keep up our spirits. I have wept so much at all sorts of elegies of late, that without an enlivening glass I am sure this will overcome me.
Associating gooseberry wine with warmth and community, Dr. Primrose drinks it when he wants to enliven his spirits. This touching moment of family peace precedes a subsequent moment of drama, in which Dick announces that Olivia has run off with a man.
Dr. Primrose usually describes his wife serving the gooseberry wine, linking it with gender roles. When the landlord visits, for example, it is Deborah who insists that he "[taste] a glass of her gooseberry." And when he recounts Mr. Burchell's frequent visits, he notes that she is "not sparing of her gooseberry wine." Although the family enacts hospitality together, they have clearly defined tasks when entertaining guests. A product of the kitchen, gooseberry wine is associated with women—and producing good wine is promoted as an attractive feminine trait. On Squire Thornhill's visits, Deborah tries to elevate the allure of Olivia by claiming that she made the gooseberry wine.
However, the gooseberry is not necessarily a limit imposed on Deborah and the Primrose daughters. In fact, these parts suggest that Deborah is content to have complete agency over a domain that directly shapes their reputation as a family. In a way, it is possible to see the clearly defined roles as evidence of the relative equality and mutual respect that exists in the Primrose marriage. Dr. Primrose gives credit to his wife for what she produces and does.
Related Themes:
Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Skincare:
In the sixth and 10th chapters, Dr. Primrose laments his daughters' interest in creating face washes. Linking the motif of skincare with vanity and pride, he disapproves of the time and energy they devote to improving their outward appearances. When he discovers in the sixth chapter that his daughters are making a face wash, Dr. Primrose disrupts their plan:
[...] little Dick informed me in a whisper, that they were making a wash for the face. Washes of all kinds I had a natural antipathy to; for I knew that instead of mending the complexion they spoiled it. I therefore approached my chair by sly degrees to the fire, and grasping the poker, as if it wanted mending, seemingly by accident, overturned the whole composition, and it was too late to begin another.
The girls' reason for making a face wash is that the family's landlord, Squire Thornhill, will be paying the family a visit on the following day. They want to look as beautiful as they can when the rich bachelor arrives. After realizing what Olivia and Sophia are doing by the fire, Dr. Primrose destroys the face wash in a moment that clashes with the moderation and moral judgment he evinces elsewhere in the story. However, his reason for doing so is in keeping with his values. Throughout the novel, Dr. Primrose expresses an aversion to valuing aesthetic beauty over moral character. Overturning the wash is a way for him to lead his daughters in what he sees as the right direction and divert them from a vain focus on their appearance.
At the start of the 10th chapter, Dr. Primrose once more apprehends, to his chagrin, that Olivia and Sophia are devoting time and effort to their appearance.
Our windows again, as formerly, were filled with washes for the neck and face. The sun was dreaded as an enemy to the skin without doors, and the fire as a spoiler of the complexion within. My wife observed, that rising too early would hurt her daughters’ eyes, that working after dinner would redden their noses, and she convinced me that the hands never looked so white as when they did nothing.
Dr. Primrose disappointedly notes that the girls are once again preparing a wash for the skin. They also follow other habits to perfect their skin. For example, Olivia and Sophia avoid the sun as though it were an enemy. When inside, they avoid the fire. Mrs. Primrose is in on their skincare routines, encouraging them to go to great lengths to avoid spoiling their complexions. She even wants them to be allowed to sleep in and get out of working.
The attention showered on the Primrose girls by Squire Thornhill and the town ladies ignites what Dr. Primrose identifies as pride in Olivia and Sophia. His lectures at church and at home often revolve around the virtues of "temperance, simplicity, and contentment," and he is therefore disappointed to find that his daughters have neglected to learn what he has long sought to teach them. Hoping that her daughters will be able to climb the social hierarchy through marriage, Mrs. Primrose believes it is necessary for them to behave like aristocratic young women in order to secure the hands of aristocratic men. Dr. Primrose, on the other hand, is disturbed to witness his daughters care so much about their outward appearance.
Related Themes:
Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—Skincare:
In the sixth and 10th chapters, Dr. Primrose laments his daughters' interest in creating face washes. Linking the motif of skincare with vanity and pride, he disapproves of the time and energy they devote to improving their outward appearances. When he discovers in the sixth chapter that his daughters are making a face wash, Dr. Primrose disrupts their plan:
[...] little Dick informed me in a whisper, that they were making a wash for the face. Washes of all kinds I had a natural antipathy to; for I knew that instead of mending the complexion they spoiled it. I therefore approached my chair by sly degrees to the fire, and grasping the poker, as if it wanted mending, seemingly by accident, overturned the whole composition, and it was too late to begin another.
The girls' reason for making a face wash is that the family's landlord, Squire Thornhill, will be paying the family a visit on the following day. They want to look as beautiful as they can when the rich bachelor arrives. After realizing what Olivia and Sophia are doing by the fire, Dr. Primrose destroys the face wash in a moment that clashes with the moderation and moral judgment he evinces elsewhere in the story. However, his reason for doing so is in keeping with his values. Throughout the novel, Dr. Primrose expresses an aversion to valuing aesthetic beauty over moral character. Overturning the wash is a way for him to lead his daughters in what he sees as the right direction and divert them from a vain focus on their appearance.
At the start of the 10th chapter, Dr. Primrose once more apprehends, to his chagrin, that Olivia and Sophia are devoting time and effort to their appearance.
Our windows again, as formerly, were filled with washes for the neck and face. The sun was dreaded as an enemy to the skin without doors, and the fire as a spoiler of the complexion within. My wife observed, that rising too early would hurt her daughters’ eyes, that working after dinner would redden their noses, and she convinced me that the hands never looked so white as when they did nothing.
Dr. Primrose disappointedly notes that the girls are once again preparing a wash for the skin. They also follow other habits to perfect their skin. For example, Olivia and Sophia avoid the sun as though it were an enemy. When inside, they avoid the fire. Mrs. Primrose is in on their skincare routines, encouraging them to go to great lengths to avoid spoiling their complexions. She even wants them to be allowed to sleep in and get out of working.
The attention showered on the Primrose girls by Squire Thornhill and the town ladies ignites what Dr. Primrose identifies as pride in Olivia and Sophia. His lectures at church and at home often revolve around the virtues of "temperance, simplicity, and contentment," and he is therefore disappointed to find that his daughters have neglected to learn what he has long sought to teach them. Hoping that her daughters will be able to climb the social hierarchy through marriage, Mrs. Primrose believes it is necessary for them to behave like aristocratic young women in order to secure the hands of aristocratic men. Dr. Primrose, on the other hand, is disturbed to witness his daughters care so much about their outward appearance.
Related Themes:
Chapter 17
Explanation and Analysis—Gooseberry Wine:
One of the novel's central motifs is gooseberry wine, which symbolizes rural culture and tradition, the family's humble origins, and their simple approach to hospitality. Dr. Primrose introduces the motif early in the first chapter, connecting it right away to their modest yet generous treatment of guests:
As we lived near the road, we often had the traveller or stranger visit us to taste our gooseberry wine, for which we had great reputation; and I profess with the veracity of an historian, that I never knew one of them find fault with it.
This universal appreciation for the family's gooseberry wine shows that people like visiting the Primroses. By expressing that his family has a great reputation for gooseberry wine, Dr. Primrose states between the lines that his family has a great reputation for hospitality. Abundant in Britain, gooseberries were an inexpensive ingredient to make wine with. Always having a bottle of gooseberry wine to treat guests with doesn't indicate that the family is affluent, but rather that they share what they have with people who cross their threshold.
After the family is forced to move, Dr. Primrose describes his family settling in to their new neighborhood in the fourth chapter. In this account, he again invokes the motif of gooseberry wine to show that their move did not disrupt their penchant for hospitality:
Nor were we without guests: sometimes farmer Flamborough, our talkative neighbour, and often the blind piper, would pay us a visit, and taste our gooseberry wine; for the making of which we had lost neither the receipt nor the reputation.
Even if they have moved to a new place, the family continues to be known for their gooseberry wine and, by extension, their warm treatment of guests. In the 17th chapter, as the family sits around the fireplace making plans for the future, Dr. Primrose calls for the opening of a bottle of gooseberry wine to enjoy as his son sings an elegy:
[...] let us have a bottle of the best gooseberry wine, to keep up our spirits. I have wept so much at all sorts of elegies of late, that without an enlivening glass I am sure this will overcome me.
Associating gooseberry wine with warmth and community, Dr. Primrose drinks it when he wants to enliven his spirits. This touching moment of family peace precedes a subsequent moment of drama, in which Dick announces that Olivia has run off with a man.
Dr. Primrose usually describes his wife serving the gooseberry wine, linking it with gender roles. When the landlord visits, for example, it is Deborah who insists that he "[taste] a glass of her gooseberry." And when he recounts Mr. Burchell's frequent visits, he notes that she is "not sparing of her gooseberry wine." Although the family enacts hospitality together, they have clearly defined tasks when entertaining guests. A product of the kitchen, gooseberry wine is associated with women—and producing good wine is promoted as an attractive feminine trait. On Squire Thornhill's visits, Deborah tries to elevate the allure of Olivia by claiming that she made the gooseberry wine.
However, the gooseberry is not necessarily a limit imposed on Deborah and the Primrose daughters. In fact, these parts suggest that Deborah is content to have complete agency over a domain that directly shapes their reputation as a family. In a way, it is possible to see the clearly defined roles as evidence of the relative equality and mutual respect that exists in the Primrose marriage. Dr. Primrose gives credit to his wife for what she produces and does.
Related Themes:
Chapter 32
Explanation and Analysis—Fire-Side:
In the final chapter, the novel ends on a familiar image: the Primrose family gathered around the fire. Throughout the story, the fireplace is a motif connected with domestic happiness and family love. This concluding moment leaves the reader in a peaceful mood:
As soon as dinner was over, according to my old custom, I requested that the table might be taken away, to have the pleasure of seeing all my family assembled once more by a chearful fire-side. My two little ones sat upon each knee, the rest of the company by their partners. I had nothing now on this side of the grave to wish for, all my cares were over, my pleasure was unspeakable.
Throughout the novel, the Primrose family usually gathers around the fireplace after dinner to tell stories, perform music, and enjoy each other's company. At times, the family gathers around the fire to solve problems they have run into or seek comfort in their otherwise difficult lives. In this final scene, all of these difficulties have gone away. As they once again gather together, Dr. Primrose achieves a sense of perfect contentment. Through this, Goldsmith suggests that the simple pleasures of home and family are the most important.
Related Themes:
