Breastlessness (Symbol)
The first virgin Shah Zaman had after he killed his wife was his Vizier’s daughter who loved him dearly. Even after she found out what Shah Zaman plans to do, she still agreed to sleep with him. When Shah Zaman refused to kill her, she proposed that they build a safe haven for the girls with whom he will sleep with and who, instead of killing them, he will send them to a distant place to live in peace. The King agreed and the girl told him that she will cut off one of her breast, as a symbol for her devotion for him. What is more, she will also urge the other women to do the same as a way of showing their devotion to their King and gratitude for what he had done for them.
The importance of art (Motif)
Art has a special place in Chimera. Art, be it literary creation or painting, is the way through which a person learns about life. This is a motif in Chimera as it appears in two stories and it is mentioned on numerous occasions. Art doesn’t only have and educational purpose, but it also has the power to save a person as it became clear in Scheherazade’s case.
Love does not exist (Motif)
Another motif is the idea that love does not exist. Paradoxically, the people who think that love is a myth are the women and not the men. The women in the novel are almost universally dissatisfied by the men in their lives and are unable to fall in love with the men beside them. Because of this, the refuse to believe that love exists and claim instead that love is just an illusion.
Past and present combined (Motif)
The novel presents a blend of ancient elements and modern ideas and aspects. For example, both in the Perseid and Dunyazad, the writer introduces ancient elements like magical beings, Greek Gods and Goddesses and the presence of swords, lamps and other physical items that have a magical property side by side with modern ideas such as women being more educated as men and going to universities. This combination between ancient elements and modern elements is a motif in the novel.
Inadequacy (Motif)
Another motif that appears in the novel is the idea that certain characters feel inadequate doing the job they were given to do. In the first story it is hinted that Shah Zaman and his brother feel inadequate ruling over their kingdom and the reason why the kill virgins is partially to provoke the people to find new kings. In the last part, the narrator of the story Bellerophoniad feels unworthy and inadequate to narrate Bellerophon’s life.
