1、ThemeDefinitionofthemeFeaturesofthemeThematicpatterningHowtodetectthemesTheme(literature)：theunifyingsubjectorideaofastory.FromWikipediaAthemeisamainidea,moral,ormessage,ofanessay,paragraph,movie,bookorvideogame.Themeisacentralordominatingideainawork.Inpoetry,fiction,anddramaitistheabstractconceptth
2、atismadeconcretethroughitsrepresentationinperson,action,andimageinthework.Noproperthemeissimplyasubjectoranactivity.FromthetextbookDefinitionPlot:whathappens;Theme:whatthehappeningsaddupto.Thethemeofastoryiswhatevergeneralideaorinsighttheentirestoryreveals.Athemeisseldomobviousanddefinite.Theyarealm
3、ostalwaysimpliedratherthanstatedexplicitly.Eg.Misery1)Humanbeingsmustuttertheirgrief,evenifonlytoananimal.2)Humanbeingsareindifferenttothesufferingsofothers.3)Deepsufferingsareincommunicable,butthesufferermusttrytofindanoutlet.FeaturesGoodstoriesfrequentlyhavemorethanonetheme.Probablythereisno“right
4、statementofthethemeofastory.Eg.A Clean,Well-Lighted Place1)Theolderwaiterunderstandstheoldmanandsympathizeswithhisneedforaclean,well-lightedplace.2)Solitarypeoplewhocannotsleepneedacheerful,orderlyplacewheretheycandrinkwithdignity.3)Solitarypeopleneedaplaceofrefugefromtheirterribleawarenessthatthei
5、rlives(orperhaps,humanlives)areessentiallymeaningless.Themesoftenexploretimelessanduniversalideas,suchaslife,society,andhumannature.Thematicpatterningis“thedistributionofrecurrentthematicconceptsandmoralisticmotifs(主题)amongthevariousincidentsandframesofastory.Thematicpatterningmaybearrangedsoastoemp
6、hasizetheunifyingargumentorsalientideawhichdisparateeventsanddisparateframeshaveincommon.Eg.variousscenesinJohnSteinbecksOf Mice and MenareaboutlonelinessHowtodetectthemesMoral寓意MoralisticmotifMoral(fromLatinmorlis)isamessageconveyedoralessontobelearnedfromastoryorevent.Theauthorpresentthemoralintwo
7、ways:directlyorindirectly.Amoralmaybeexplicitlyencapsulatedinamaxim(格言箴言).“Bettertobesafethansorry.”“Theevildeservesnoaid.”“Befriendswithwhomyoudontlike.”“Dontjudgepeoplebythewaytheylook.”“Sticksandstoneswillbreakmybones,butwordswillneverhurtme.”“Youroverconfidenceisyourweakness.”Moralshavetypically
8、beenmoreobviousinchildrensliterature,sometimesevenbeingintroducedwiththephrase:“Themoralofthestoryis.”Suchexplicittechniqueshavegrownincreasinglyoutoffashioninmodernstorytelling.Inmostcases,themoralusuallybelefttothehearer,readerorviewertodetermineforthemselves.AttheendofAesopsfableoftheTortoiseandt
9、heHare,inwhichtheploddinganddeterminedtortoisewinsaraceagainstthemuch-fasteryetextremelyarroganthare,thestatedmoralis“slowandsteadywinstherace”.However,othermoralscanoftenbetakenfromthestoryitself;forinstance,thatarroganceoroverconfidenceinonesabilitiesmayleadtofailureorthelossofanevent,race,orconte
10、st.MoralisticmotifInnarrative,amotifisanyrecurringelementthathassymbolicsignificanceinastory.Throughitsrepetition,amotifcanhelpproduceothernarrative(orliterary)aspectssuchasthemeormood.Motifvs.ThemeMotifisrelatedtothesituation,whilethemeisrelatedtothecharacter.Themeismoreabstractthanmotif.Themeusual
11、lystandsatthetheoreticallevel,inotherwords,motifneverreachthelevelofabstractiontoproblemsorideas.Itiseasiertofindoutmotifthantheme.Anarrativemotifcanbecreatedthroughtheuseofimagery,structuralcomponents,language,orothernarrativeelements.Narrativescanincludemultiplemotifsofvaryingtypes.InhisplayMacbet
12、h,Shakespeareusesavarietyofnarrativeelementstocreatemanydifferentmotifs.Imagisticreferencesto blood and waterarecontinuallyrepeated.Thephrasefair is foul,and foul is fairisechoedatmanypointsintheplay,acombinationthatmixestheconceptsofgoodandevil.Theplayalsofeaturesthecentralmotifofthewashing of hand
13、s,onethatcombinesbothverbalimagesandthemovementoftheactors.OtherswaystopointupthemeInclassicaldrama,forexample,theroleofthePrologue or Chorus wastocommentontheproceedingsanddrawoutamessagefortheaudiencetotakeawaywiththem.Chor.Twohouseholds,bothalikeindignity,InfairVerona,wherewelayourscene,Fromancie
14、ntgrudgebreaktonewmutiny,Wherecivilbloodmakescivilhandsunclean.FromforththefatalloinsofthesetwofoesApairofstar-crossdloverstaketheirlife;WhosemisadventurdpiteousoverthrowsDothwiththeirdeathburytheirparentsstrife.Thefearfulpassageoftheirdeath-markdlove,Andthecontinuanceoftheirparentsrage,Which,buttheirchildrensend,naughtcouldremove,Isnowthetwohourstrafficofourstage;Thewhichifyouwithpatientearsattend,Whathereshallmiss,ourtoilshallstrivetomend.-ThePrologue toRomeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
