All 10 Uses
motive
in
Gone with the Wind
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- But Scarlett loitered, wondering how to bring up the subject of Ashley without permitting Gerald to suspect her motive.†
Chpt 1.2motive = reason (for doing something)
- Scarlett had never trusted any woman and had never credited any woman except her mother with motives other than selfish ones.†
Chpt 1.6motives = reasons for doing something
- It was annoying the way Melly always misconstrued her motives—but perhaps that was far preferable to having her suspect the truth.†
Chpt 2.9
- I should have recalled that you are just like me and that you never do anything without an ulterior motive.†
Chpt 4.34 *motive = reason (for doing something)
- That would be a relief, for it had been so long since she had told anyone the truth about herself and her motives.†
Chpt 4.36motives = reasons for doing something
- Or did he have some other motive?†
Chpt 4.36motive = reason (for doing something)
- She could talk to him about almost everything, with no care for concealing her motives or her real opinions and she never ran out of things to say as she did with Frank—or even with Ashley, if she must be honest with herself.†
Chpt 4.38motives = reasons for doing something
- She felt puzzled and a little ashamed, as always when people attributed to her emotions and motives they possessed and thought she shared.†
Chpt 4.40
- As usual when confronted by Melanie's habit of attributing worthy motives where no worth existed, Scarlett was ashamed and irritated, and suddenly she could not meet either Ashley's or Melanie's eyes.†
Chpt 4.41
- I know your motives are always above reproach.†
Chpt 4.43
Definitions:
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(1)
(motive as in: What is her motive?) a reason for doing something
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(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Less commonly, motive can refer to something that causes motion in an inanimate object. Even less commonly, it can refer to a distinctive feature in music, art, or literature.