moral themes
Lessons about right
Moral themes are the ethical questions or lessons embedded in a story, artwork, or discussion.
Literature explores moral themes like redemption, justice, revenge, and the corruption of power.
The novel's moral themes include the cost of ambition and the nature of forgiveness.
Unlike a moral—an explicit lesson—moral themes are woven throughout a work for readers to interpret.
- conscienceInternal moral sense
- inner conflictPsychological tension within oneself
- accountabilityObligation for one's actions
- greater goodCollective benefit over personal
- dutyRequired moral task
compassion · courage · equality · good vs evil · integrity · altruism · empathy · redemption · humility · temptation · fairness · ethics · virtue · forgiveness · justice · hypocrisy · sins of the father · sacrifice
- poetrypoem, poems, poetry, verse, verses
- literary themesheroism, hero's journey, ennui, social realism, tragedy
- melodramavillain, heroine, hero, damsel in distress, happy ending
- Art Ethicsintegrity, responsibility, conscience, principles, standards
- Scott StudiesWalter Scott, Sir Walter Scott, Waverley, Ivanhoe, Rob Roy
- povertypoverty line, poor, poverty rate, impoverished, generational poverty
narrative element type
moral themessetting
Context of events
pacing · genre conventions · plot · plot structure · narrative structure