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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Obscurity
People and things are often obscured in The Tale of Genji, either literally or figuratively. This is particularly true of women, who are often represented behind curtains or screens or sitting in partially-lit rooms. Gender norms held that women should remain secluded, and this cultural practice is essential to the stories of seduction that are the main subject of the book’s first seventeen chapters.
The book's meaning is also sometimes obscured. Some of this can be explained by recalling that The Tale of Genji was written hundreds of years ago, so all translations, including the Suematsu, must navigate both linguistic and historical differences. But the author is also often oblique, which makes the text's meaning elusive. For example, scholars argue that Genji’s closing remark to Kokimi at the end of Chapter 2 might suggest a sexual encounter, but the meaning is as veiled as many of its characters. The regular use of a person’s rank instead of their name provides yet another example of how indirection and obscurity shape the book.
Nature
The action in the novel centers around the imperial court, but Genji spends much of his time voyaging elsewhere, either in pursuit of women or exiled on the coast. The natural world is a recurring element of the text, providing experiences of beauty and reflecting the main character’s emotional state. The characters are particularly compelled by liminal times of day, like dawn or dusk, or peculiar brightness cast by the moon. There are also key differences between nature that is enclosed, like a garden, and nature that is expansive, such as the sea or a storm. When properly cultivated, the natural world provides yet another means for expression since looking upon beautiful scenes or vistas bring to the viewer a feeling of peace and harmony.
Competition
While Heian-era culture valued harmony and takes its name from the word “peace,” The Tale of Genji is full of competition, as characters jockey for status, compete for romantic partners, or test their talents and skills in judged contests. Some of this competition is politically motivated, as when the Lady Koki-den works to guarantee her son is selected as the Heir Apparent, but other competitions are more friendly. They are good friends, but Genji and Tō-no-Chūjō compete regularly across these chapters. Sometimes they do so in jest, as in the mock fight in “Maple Fête,” but they can also be utterly serious, as their individual efforts to secure a favorable marriage for a child makes clear in “Competitive Show of Pictures.” Genji invariably bests Tō-no-Chūjō.
