Theme (literature)

A theme is not the same as the subject of a work. For example, the ''subject'' of '' Green Eggs And Ham '' is "everyone wants to eat green eggs and ham, no matter the location". The ''theme'' might be "have an open mind".

Themes differ from Motifs in that the use of a motif need not imply an attitude. Repeatedly having characters play chess need not entail a theme. However, both "mastering chess teaches valuable skills for dealing with real life"" and "mastering chess is an escapist retreat from reality that renders the players even less fit to deal with life" could be themes of stories.

Themes arise from the interplay of the plot, the characters, and the attitude the author takes to them, and the same story can be given very different themes in the hands of different authors. For instance, the source for Shakespeare's '' Romeo And Juliet '', Matteo Bandello 's The Tragicall History Of Romeus And Juliet gave the story the theme of "the wickedness and folly of marrying without parental consent",

And to this end, good Reader, is this tragical matter written, to describe unto thee a couple of unfortunate lovers, thralling themselves to unhonest desire; neglecting the authority and advice of parents and friends; conferring their principal counsels with drunken gossips and superstitious friars (the naturally fit instruments of unchastity); attempting all adventures of peril for th' attaining of their wished lust; using auricular confession the key of whoredom and treason, for furtherance of their purpose; abusing the honourable name of lawful marriage to cloak the shame of stolen contracts; finally by all means of unhonest life hasting to most unhappy death.

but in Shakespeare's hands, the same story acquires the theme of "the wickedness of feuds and parental heavy-handedness in preventing young love from marrying."

The term theme may be used in the same way to refer to works of Theatre and Film .

EXAMPLES OF LITERARY THEMES

Hamlet by William Shakespeare :
Themes include:

The impossibility of certainty

The mystery of death {Link without Title}

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald :
Themes include:

The decline of the American Dream

The hollowness of the upper class {Link without Title}

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy :
Themes include:

Social change in 19th-Century Russia

The blessings of family life

The philosophical value of farming {Link without Title}

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain :
Themes include:

(The evils of) Racism and slavery

Intellectual and moral education

The hypocrisy of "civilized" society {Link without Title}

Information About

Theme (literature)