Theme is an important element of a story after plot, characters, conflict and setting. Either in a work of literature: a short story, novella, novel, or poetry, contain a theme.
Let’s understand the themes in literature in the simplest words.
Theme is the central idea of a literary work which helps the author to convey a message.
So, in a story, if an author wants to present the message of love, self-sacrifice, suffering or good vs. evil, etc. they will do so by making it the main idea or the theme of their story and conveying it using the elements of a story like characters, plot, setting, and dialogue.
Themes in Literature-
- A theme of a story in the literature relates to what a book is about. It is the central idea of the story, the belief, or the message the writer wants to deliver through the story.
- The theme is the underlying message that writers want to convey, and there can be one or even multiple themes in a story.
List of 101 Themes in Literature (Common Literary Theme Examples)
The below list of 101 Common literary themes examples are recurring themes in popular works of fiction and have been used as main, major, or minor themes in popular novels.
1. Love

2. War

3. Revenge

4. Betrayal

5. Good vs. Evil

6. Redemption

7. Friendship

8. Family

9. Death

10. Coming of Age

11. Love and Marriage

12. Forgiveness

13. Identity

14. Youth

15. Prejudice


16. Justice

17. Change vs. Tradition

18. Power

19. Individual vs. Society

20. Social Class

21. Fate vs. Free Will

22. Courage

23. Rebellion

24. Humility

25. Fear

26. Hate

27. Violence

28. Hubris

29. Race

30. Money

31. Greed

32. Woman and Femininity

33. Oppression

34. Poverty

35. Sacrifice

36. Survival

37. Hypocrisy

38. Religion

39. Science

40. Sin

41. Wealth

42. Alienation

43. Innocence

44. Sex and Sexuality

45. Madness

46. Crime

47. Deception

48. Temptation

49. Technology

50. Ambition


51. Suffering

52. Education

53. Time

54. Isolation

55. Moral Corruption

56. Loneliness

57. American Dream

58. Gender Roles

59. Beauty

60. Freedom

61. Gothic Elements

62. Storytelling

63. Corruption

64. Secrecy

65. Reputation

66. Memory and the Past

67. Totalitarianism

68. Repression

69. Loyalty

70. Knowledge vs. Ignorance

71. Manipulation

72. Jealousy

73. Adultery

74. Guilt

75. Dissatisfaction


76. Morality

77. Community

78. Man and the Nature

79. Surveillance
80. Injustice
81. Satire and Realism
82. Solitude
83. Subjectivity
84. Passion
85. Faith in God
86. Truth
87. Doubt
88. Limit of knowledge
89. Politics
90. Social position
91. Honor
92. Guilt
93. History
94. Childhood
95. Heroism
96. Honesty
97. Perseverance
98. Circle of Life
99. Communication
100. Relationship
101. Hope

Examples of Themes in Literature-
Below are examples of major and minor literary themes that appeared in some of the popular books of all time.
1. Pride and Prejudice
By Jane Austen

Major Themes- Love and marriage, class, reputation, social status, family.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird
By Harper Lee

Major Themes- Good vs. evil, coming of age, small town life, prejudice, racism, social inequality, law and justice.
3. The Great Gatsby
By F.Scott Fitzgerald

Major Themes- American dream, power, society and class, love and marriage.
4. Harry Potter
By J. K Rowling

Major Themes- Death, confronting fear, fate, love, friendship, power, rebel, good vs.evil, courage, humility.
5. Romeo and Juliet
By William Shakespeare

Major Themes- Love, fate, youth, violence, death, gender, revenge, marriage, hate.
6. David Copperfield
By Charles Dickens

Major Themes- Good vs. evil, personal development, wealth and class, impartiality in marriage, abuse of the weak.
7. The Lion, the Witches, and the Wardrobe
By C. S Lewis

Minor Themes- Good vs. evil, war, friendship, loyalty, courage, forgiveness, childhood, betrayal, family.
8. War and Peace
By Leo Tolstoy

Major Themes- Warfare, history, patriotism, forgiveness, spirituality, love, family, man and masculinity.
9. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
By Mark Twain

Major Themes- Racism, slavery, society, hypocrisy, freedom, superstition, education, empathy, guilt and shame, wealth, honor, religion.
10. Moby Dick
By Herman Melville

Major Themes- Revenge, limits of knowledge, destiny, religion, nature and man, madness, race, fate and free will.

11. Middlemarch
By George Eliot

Major Themes- Marital compatibility, money, community and class, social position, politics, religion, pride and vanity, self discovery.
12. Anna Karenina
By Leo Tolstoy

Themes- Betrayal, hypocrisy, faith, jealousy, family life, marriage, adultery, imperial Russian society, desire, rural vs city life, society and class, carnal desire, passion, progress.
13. 1984
By George Orwell

Themes- Propaganda, totalitarianism, poverty vs. wealth, independence and identity, Loyalty, technology, class struggle, love and sexuality, liberty and censorship, betrayal, language, manipulation, repression, rebellion, violence.
14. To the Lighthouse
By Virginia Woolf

Major Themes- Time, the meaning of life, subjectivity, the nature of art, gender.
15. Wuthering Heights
By Emily Bronte

Major Themes- Love, revenge, class, hate, violence, good and evil, solitude.
16. A Handful of Dust
By Evelyn Waugh

Major Themes- Love and marriage, adultery, selfishness, money, class and society, morality, satire and realism, religion.
17. The Heart of the Matter
By Graham Greene

Major Themes- Love and marriage, failure, surveillance, Isolation, religion, self-awareness, corruption, suffering.
18. Life of Pi
By Yann Martel

Major Themes- Storytelling, religion, nature, wildlife, survival, truth, faith in god, fear, science.
19. Jane Eyre
By Charlotte Bronte

Major Themes- Family, religion , social position, class, love and marriage, gender, beauty, independence, feeling vs. judgment, gothic elements.
20. Heart of Darkness
By Joseph Conrad

Major Themes- Imperialism, racism, violence, colonialism, exploitation, religion, alienation, moral corruption, loneliness.
21. Mrs. Dalloway
By Virginia Woolf

Major Themes- Time, isolation, communication, death, repression, suffering, society and class.
22. Great Expectations
By Charles Dickens

Major Themes- Crime, class, imperialism, injustice, ambition, education, family.
23. The Lord of the Rings
By J.R.R Tolkien

Major Themes- Friendship, fate, good and evil, religion, free will, loss, courage, power, death and immortality, forgiveness.
24. The Catcher in the Rye
By J.D Salinger

Major Themes- Alienation, innocence, phoniness, angst, growing up, death, love, woman and sex, religion, madness.
25. The Faults in our Stars
By John Green

Major Themes- Love, family, life and death, religion, coming of age, friendship, suffering, literature and writing.
26. The Hungers Game
By Suzanne Collins

Major Themes- Friendship, family, class, love, rebellion, starvation, oppression, poverty, self-sacrifice, hypocrisy, appearances, survival, stoicism, loss.
27. Animal Farm
By George Orwell

Major Themes- Corruption, totalitarianism, class, control, exploitation, idealism, deception, abuse of power.
28. Little Women
By Louisa May Alcott

Major Themes- Family, love and marriage, ambition, sacrifice, poverty, literature and language, writing, morality and society, self-improvement, wealth and happiness, gender and femininity, women as artist.
Related: Common Poetry Themes