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
