Idea

The idea of a work is its main thought, generalizing conclusion, and the author's comprehension and assessment of the depicted phenomena — that for the sake of which the work was created; its ideational-emotional orientation. If the theme answers the question 'what the work is about', then the idea answers 'what is said by it, to what the author calls'. The idea is not always formulated directly: for the most part it follows from the whole artistic entity — from the development of the plot, the fate of the characters, the system of images, and the authorial assessments. The idea is inseparably joined with the theme: together they constitute the ideational-thematic basis of a work. One distinguishes the idea as the objective content of a work and the authorial tendency (a conscious orientation). For example, the idea of Ivan Franko's poem Moses is the indestructibility of the people and faith in its future, the greatness of a leader who leads the people to freedom despite loss of faith; the idea of the drama The Forest Song is the affirmation of beauty, love, and spirituality over everydayness and self-interest. The depth, humanism, and artistic conviction of the idea determine the value of a literary work.