【正文】 li sts six basic elem ent s of t ragedy. M el ody (song) and dict ion ( language) fal i n the general cat egor y of st yle, and spect acle i s relevant t o seti ng in our di scussi on of fi ct ion. The other three aspects ar e myt hos or plot , et hos or character, and dianoia, which we general y t ransl ate i nt o “thought” i n English. Accor ding t o Ar istotl e, pl ot i s the “soul ” or shaping pr incipl e or fi ct ion, and char acter s exi st pr imar il y as f unct i ons of t he pl ot . I n m ost of t he st ori es, pl ot plays the r ol e of pri nci pal str uct ur e of t he st ory. But, as Nort hr op Fr ye poi nts out, besi de s the i nt ernal fi ct i on of t he char act er and his/ her soci et y, t her e i s an ext er nal f i ct ion consi st i ng of a r elati on bet ween t he wr it er and t he wr it er ’s societ y. We i ndeed have li t er ar y wor ks by the l ikes of Shakespeare and Hom er i n whi ch ar ti st r y i s plet el y absor bed i n t heir i nter nal char act ers and we can hardl y per cei ve t he exist ence of the author. However, as soon as t he aut hor ’s per sonalit y appear s on t he hori zon, a r elati on wit h t he reader i s est abl ished, and som et im es t her e seem s no st or y at al apar t fr om what t he aut hor i s conveying t o his/ her r eader . I n this case, t he pr im ar y i nt er est in di anoi a, t he i dea or t hought t hat r eader get s fr om t he wri t er, whi ch i n m oder n cri ti ci sm we gener al ly cal “t heme”. I. What Is Them e? One of t he saf est ments t o make about novel s is on t he t heme. Ever yone is enti tl ed t o extr act a t hem e based upon his under standi ng of t he novel . Them e may be t he m ost democrati c elem ents i n l it er at ur e, because it s def i nit i on i s t he l east r estr i ct ive. The t hem e of a novel i s it s contr oll i ng i dea or i ts centr al i nsi ght . Bei ng an i dea or an i nsi ght, t he t hem e shoul d be abstr act and i t should generali ze about li fe. Label ed as contr oll ing or cent ral, t he theme shoul d be capable of uni fying t he whole novel. So the t hem e of a story, then, is whatever general idea or insight the enti re st ory r eveals. I . Clar if icat ion about Theme Common as i t i s, t hem e suf fer s som e misunder standi ngs. One m isconcept ion about t hem e is t hat each novel has a theme or themes, or t hem e is i mport ant t o al novel s. I n fact, some novel s, i nteresti ng ones t hough, do not pr ovi de any insight into li fe. For example, many novel s of rati oci nat ion and novels of horr or . These novel s are ai med at enter taini ng the r eader, not at i mpr ovi ng his under standi ng of li fe. They may som et im es t ouch upon t he human nat ure or soci al pr obl ems, but these issues are onl y used to push the pl ot f orwar d and they are not menti oned f or their own val ue. Theme exists only in t he novel that ser iously at empts t o r ef lect li fe f ait hf ull y or int ends to reveal t rut h about li fe, or in t he novel s that ar e based on i deas or theori es of l if e. (f or exa mple, novel s of i deas). Anot her mi sconcept ion about t heme is t hat t he theme i s largely what t he novel is. Some peopl e discar d the novel when they thi nk that they have got t he theme. I t shoul d be made clear t hat t he novel is not wr it ten t o convey an i dea but to convey an idea art isti cal ly. The novel is a wor k of art wher eas t he theme i s onl y an abst ract idea. An analogy f rom dai ly li fe m ay hel p clari fy this quest ion. Peopl e al need vi tami ns and get them fr om vari ous ki nds of vegetables and fr uit s. Onl y those wit h defi ci ency of one kind or another have t o take vit amin pil s to get t he requir ed am ount . The di f er ence bet wen t he theme and t he novel is m uch l ike t hat between t he vitami ns and the veget abl es. The r eader somet imes f inds that the t hem e of a novel is sim il ar t o or even t he sam e as what he has alr eady known about l if e and that he is sti l f ascinated by t he novel. Theme appeal s sol el y t o the i ntel ect ual level of r eadi ng whil e the novel as a whol e mai nl y appeals t o t he em otional level. Another pi tf al concerni ng the t hem e is t o conf use a theme wi th moral or lesson. Usual ly, a moral or a lesson is t he advice stat ed or i mpl ied in a par able or f abl e. I t is something of a r ule by whi ch one can regul ate hi s behavior. For exam pl e , “Be ki nd to your neighbor s,” or “Honesty is t he best pol icy.” But a t heme is more pli cat ed than t hi s as a novel is t o enhance one’s awar eness of li fe rather than sim pl y t o tel l hi m how to behave. A novel is a pli cat ed mat er and di f er ent r eader s may have di f erent inter pr etati ons of t he sam e novel, so i t is incorr ect t o presume t hat one novel has onl y one theme. In some cases, there ar e sever al subt hem es to t he main theme. I n r eal it y, some novel s are appreciated f or their t hem at ic ambi gui ty. For exampl e, Moby Di ck can be int er preted i n mor e ways than one. Fi nal ly, the t hem e is not to be confused wi th t he subj ect. The t hem e is an i dea whi le the subj ect i s a mat er or an af fair . “Love i s invincibl e” may be a theme, but “l(fā) ove” i s onl y a subject. A subject m ay be uni ver sal . The subjects of The Scarl et Let ter, The Great Gatsby, and Wom en in Love ar e al l “l(fā)ove. ” But these novels have dif fer ent t hemes. A t heme is part icular to it s novel, t hough t her e are m any si mil ar themes to be f ound in ot her novel s. I I I. Five Requir ement s f or St at ing a Theme The st at ement of a t hem e may be bri ef or l ong. And t her e are di f erent ways to express one and t he same theme. But i t should meet t he fol lowi ng requir em ent s. A theme m ust be expressed in the f orm of a stat ement wit h a subject