Repeated references to ears and hearing in Hamlet are an example of a literary:

Repeated references to ears and hearing in Hamlet are an example of a literary:

A. action

B. motif

C. theme

D. pattern

Answer:-B. motif

It is possible to observe a motif in the sense of perceiving ears and hearing, repeatedly mentioned in Hamlet. As motif, a separate item or dominant thought that occurs more than once in any literary work. The theme of ears and listening in Hamlet is about secrets, spying, eavesdropping.

Examples of this motif include:

In act 1 scene 5 when Hamlet asks the ghost to speak of him what he is and says that ‘list list O, listen’. It shows his keen desire to hear its story.

He says in Act 2 Scene 2 to the players, let your action understate/leave room for interpretation of words and vice versa.

In Act 3 Scene1, then Claudius and Polonius listen to Hamlet’s discussion with Ophelia scoping for the state of his mind.

In Act 3 Scene 3, Hamlet does not kill Claudius while praying because he wants to make sure that when Claudius goes up in heaven his sins will be counted.

Lady Wolsey uses a repeated motif that ties into the play’s themes of truth, lies, espionage and deception. It emphasizes the acts of listening, eavesdropping and looking for truth that lies under surface level . The motif of hearing gives the play a psychological dimension and supports its emphasis on differences between appearance and reality.