Themes: All Themes
Themes: Language
Semiotics, the area of expertise for Eco, significantly influences the ideas he uses to build his novel. Semiotics is the study of signs, sign systems, and the interpretation of meaning. Within any given culture, signs can be practically anything that conveys information. Generally, signs are conventional, meaning they are understood by those familiar with the implicit codes behind them. For example, in American culture, a kiss as a greeting...
Themes: Nominalism
Nominalism holds significant importance in The Name of the Roseand is intimately connected to language. During the Middle Ages, there was a vigorous debate about the nature of reality. Realists, such as the character Jorge in the novel, believed in the existence of universals. They argued that every name and term corresponds to a real entity outside the mind. Therefore, a universal concept like “rose” would have a real existence beyond mental...
(Read more)Themes: Appearance vs. Reality
The Name of The Roseexplores several themes centered around a key concept, arguably the most crucial in all classic literature: the disparity between appearance and reality. William of Baskerville uses sharp observation to reveal the truth hidden behind appearances. This pursuit leads to profound debates about the importance and practicality of logic, the boundaries of human understanding, and the techniques of investigation. Despite being set in...
(Read more)Themes: Semiotics and Interpretation
Building on Eco's theoretical contributions to semiotics, concepts like logic, reality, and appearance are often explored through signs that people need to decode, interpret, and comprehend. The Name of The Rose, as described by Eco himself, is an "open work" that invites multiple interpretations without enforcing a single, definitive conclusion. The novel's ambiguity is both deliberate and central to its theme. A scholar who collaborated with Eco...
(Read more)Themes: The Role of Books and Interpretation
In the conclusion of Postscript to "The Name of the Rose", Eco states: "Moral: there exist obsessive ideas, they are never personal; books talk among themselves, and any true direction should prove that we are the guilty party." Each reader will inevitably interpret and comprehend a text in their own unique way. As William explains to Adso: "Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry."
(Read more)Themes: Comedy and Laughter
The climax of the novel presents a dramatic encounter between the blind Jorge of Burgos and the characters William and Adso. Jorge has tainted the last remaining copy of Aristotle's treatise on comedy with a lethal ink that absorbs through the reader's skin, leading to certain death. Jorge believes that Aristotle's endorsement of comedy is excessively provocative and perilous. While elements like laughter, parody, and the grotesque are prominent...
(Read more)Themes: Christian Themes
On one level, The Name of the Roseis a murder mystery solved by a clever detective. However, like the clues that William and Adso find, there are many layers of meaning. Before publishing the novel, Umberto Eco earned the distinction of being a leading literary theorist, best known for his work in semiotics. Semiotics, the study of signs, is a way of understanding how meaning is created or understood, whether in a work of literature or in life. A...
(Read more)Themes: Order versus chaos
The theme of order versus chaos, or meaning versus meaninglessness, is one that runs throughout The Name of the Rose . William of Baskerville is a man of reason devoted to the then-new ideas of Roger Bacon and William of Occam. This makes him somewhat...
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of an oddity in a medieval setting in which many characters rely on faith, tradition, or superstition in their interpretation of the world. William sets out to solve the mystery of the abbey’s serial...
(Read more)Themes: Lust
Lust appears in many forms in The Name of the Roseand can be seen as the driving force behind many of the novel’s events. Sexual lust between the monks runs throughout the narrative, just below the surface of abbey life. Berengar’s lust for Adelmo leads him to betray the secret of the lost volume of Aristotle, Adelmo’s guilt over giving into lust (Berengar’s and his own) leads him to commit suicide, and Malachi’s lust for Berengar leads him to...
(Read more)Themes: Heresy
The concept of heresy—and the threat posed by anything deemed heretical—is a major concern for the monks in The Name of the Rose. Abo, Ubertino, Jorge, Bernard Gui, and William all speak at length on the subject, and the Pope’s readiness to condemn certain Franciscan sects as heretical forms an underlying conflict that builds tension throughout the story. William’s reason for coming to the abbey in the first place is to mediate talks between...
(Read more)Themes: Laughter
The value of laughter is a subject of frequent debate in The Name of the Rose, with William and Jorge’s opposing views on the matter forming a philosophical conflict that comes to a head during the nemeses’ climactic final confrontation. Indeed, it is Jorge’s belief that Aristotle’s endorsement of laughter and comedy would pose a terrible threat to the social order and the authority of the Church that leads him to hide and later smear with poison...
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