Both Uses

motive
in
Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool
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For example, we are told that Lear "has no necessity or motive for his abdication", although his reason for abdicating (that he is old and wishes to retire from the cares of state) has been clearly indicated in the first scene.†
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motive = reason (for doing something)
But the deeper resemblance lies in the fact that Tolstoy, like Lear, acted on mistaken motives and failed to get the results he had hoped for.†

motives = reasons for doing something

Definitions:

(1) (motive as in: What is her motive?)
a reason for doing something
(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.