Difference Between Idea and Theme
The idea and theme are two words that are often confused when it comes to their senses. The word ‘idea’ is used in the sense of a plan that can be executed to solve a problem. A theme is referring to the central point around which a theme or subject are written. This is the main difference between the idea and theme.
An idea refers to a design or plan formed by the mental effort. That is to say an idea referred to a mental impression or an idea or concept. Watch the sentence ‘he commented on his friend’s idea’. In this sentence the word ‘idea’ refers to a kind of mental impression or a conception. In short we can say that the word ‘idea’ refers to a plan.
On the other hand the word ‘theme’ in the sentence ‘the theme of the essay is good’. In the sentence the word ‘theme’ refers to the central idea of the idea. He refers to the main point about which the theme or the article is written. It is the difference between the idea and theme.
The word ‘theme’ refers to the topic or subject on which a person speaks, writes or thinks. At times the word ‘theme’ also refers to an often prominent melody or recurring 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 phrase ‘the thematic expression ‘.
On the other hand the word ‘theme’ is sometimes used to mean ‘the moral’ as in the phrase ‘the theme of history’. The difference between the two words theme and idea should be known with precision to avoid any kind of confusion in the understanding of their meaning.