Idea vs Theme
Idea and Theme are two words that are often confused when it comes to their meaning. The word ‘idea’ is used in the sense of ‘a plan’ that can be executed to solve a problem. A theme on the other hand refers to the central point around which a topic or a subject is written. This is the main difference between idea and theme.
An idea refers to a conception or plan formed by mental effort. In other words an idea refers to a mental impression or notion or a concept. Observe the sentence ‘he told his friend about his idea’. In this sentence the word ‘idea’ refers to a kind of mental impression or a notion. In short it can be said that the word ‘idea’ refers to a plan.
On the other hand the word ‘theme’ in the sentence ‘the theme of the essay is a good one’. In the sentence the word ‘theme’ refers to the central idea of the idea. It refers to the main point around which the topic or the essay is written. This is the difference between idea and theme.
The word ‘theme’ refers to the subject or topic on which a person speaks, writes or thinks. At times the word ‘theme’ also refers to a prominent or frequently recurring melody or music or a group of notes in a composition as in the expression ‘theme music’. It is interesting to note that the word ‘theme’ has its adjectival form as ‘thematic’ as in the expression ‘thematic expression’.
On the other hand the word ‘theme’ is sometimes used in the sense of ‘moral’ as in the expression ‘the theme of the story’. The difference between the two words theme and idea should be known with precision to avoid any sort of confusion about understanding their meanings.