All Topics  
Theme (literature)

 

   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link






 

Theme (literature)



 
 
A theme is a simile used to relate to idioms and or literary work a message or lesson conveyed by a written text. This message is usually about life, society or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas. Most themes are implied rather than explicitly stated. The theme is different from the superficial outlay of the text; it is normally the meaning of the text on a more abstract level.
es are often interpreted in diverse ways by different people or critics, regardless of whether or not the theme discussed was the original intent of the author
Authorial intentionality

In literary theory and aesthetics, authorial intentionality is a concept referring to an author's intention as it is encoded in his or her Work of art....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Theme (literature)'
Start a new discussion about 'Theme (literature)'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


A theme is a simile used to relate to idioms and or literary work a message or lesson conveyed by a written text. This message is usually about life, society or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas. Most themes are implied rather than explicitly stated. The theme is different from the superficial outlay of the text; it is normally the meaning of the text on a more abstract level.

Interpretation

Themes are often interpreted in diverse ways by different people or critics, regardless of whether or not the theme discussed was the original intent of the author
Authorial intentionality

In literary theory and aesthetics, authorial intentionality is a concept referring to an author's intention as it is encoded in his or her Work of art....
. The same story can also be given very different themes in the hands of different authors. For instance, the source for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a Shakespearean tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "Star-crossed" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families....
, Matteo Bandello
Matteo Bandello

Matteo Bandello was an Italian writer....
's The Tragical History of Romeo and Juliet emphasizes the perils of dishonesty and disobedience.

Etymology

The word 'theme' comes from the Old French word tesme (French: thème), from [Latin] thema, from Ancient Greek ??µa (théma), from t???µ? (tithemi), meaning “‘I put, place’”, which in turn is reduplicative from the Proto-Indo-European word *d?eh1-, meaning ‘to put, place, do’.

Classic themes

Themes differ from culture to culture, but there is a general set of "classic themes" that are prevalent in all cultures and histories. These themes have their roots in the oral traditions of different cultures, and recur in a range or literary works.

Techniques

There are several electrical techniques that are often used to express themes.

Leitwortstil

Leitwortstil is the 'the purposeful repetition of words' in a given literary piece that "usually expresses a motif
Motif (narrative)

In a narrative, such as a novel or a film, motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the piece?s major Theme ....
 or theme important to the given story". This device dates back to the One Thousand and One Nights, also known as the Arabian Nights, which connects several tales together in a story cycle. The storytellers of the tales relied on this technique "to shape the constituent members of their story cycles into a coherent whole."

Thematic patterning

Thematic patterning is "the distribution of recurrent thematic concepts and moralistic motifs
Motif (narrative)

In a narrative, such as a novel or a film, motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the piece?s major Theme ....
 among the various incidents and frames of a story. In a skillfully crafted tale, thematic patterning may be arranged so as to emphasize the unifying argument or salient idea which disparate events and disparate frames have in common". This technique also dates back to the One Thousand and One Nights.

Reference



External links