What are the motifs in The Sandman by Neil Gaiman?

The price of desire is a recurring idea in the story. The characters in Dream Country all have goals. In "Calliope," Richard Madoc craves fame and fortune through his writing, and to get this, he wants ideas. In "A Dream of a Thousand Cats," the Siamese seeks world domination for cats. In "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Shakespeare wants his writing to live on eternally. In "Façade," Rainie wants, simply, to die. The characters all pay a price for their desires.