Motifs
Francis James Child noted that other ballads included a mother who poisoned her son over a match, but considered none to compare to this one.
Willie's Lady also revolves about the mother's hostility.
The poisoner who feigns drinking her own poison is also found in the Scottish fairy tale Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree.
Read more about this topic: Prince Robert
Famous quotes containing the word motifs:
“Myths, as compared with folk tales, are usually in a special category of seriousness: they are believed to have “really happened,” or to have some exceptional significance in explaining certain features of life, such as ritual. Again, whereas folk tales simply interchange motifs and develop variants, myths show an odd tendency to stick together and build up bigger structures. We have creation myths, fall and flood myths, metamorphose and dying-god myths.”
—Northrop Frye (1912–1991)
“The poetic act consists of suddenly seeing that an idea splits up into a number of equal motifs and of grouping them; they rhyme.”
—Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–1898)