How the Theme Defines the Plot

Theme divides a story’s plot into the pursuit of two goals. First, there’s an emotional goal that the hero needs. Second, there’s a physical goal that the hero wants. 

This distinction between need vs. want is crucial. What the hero needs is what will make him or her into a better person. What the hero wants is the path to getting what the hero needs.

This distinction is crucial to understand. In “Star Wars,” Luke wants to get off his planet and have an adventure. However, what Luke really needs is to learn to trust himself and the Force. 

What the hero needs is the emotional goal. This emotional goal is based on the theme and must be established right in the beginning when we first meet the hero.

To make this emotional goal clear, the hero or another character often states it out loud. From this point on, the rest of the story is all about whether the hero will ever achieve this emotional goal. By the end of the story, the hero either gets this emotional goal or fails to get this emotional goal.

The only way the hero can achieve this emotional goal is by achieving a physical goal. The physical goal defines the plot.  

The plot defines the physical obstacles for the hero to overcome, but the theme defines how those obstacles affect the hero. In all cases, obstacles either push the hero closer to the opposite of the theme or closer to embracing the theme.

In “Legally Blonde,” the theme is that a woman can be strong enough to survive without a man. So every obstacle pushes the hero either into thinking she’s not strong enough to survive without a man or that she can be strong enough to survive without a man.

The first obstacle the hero faces in “Legally Blonde” is getting dumped by her boyfriend. Now the hero’s sole goal is to get back with her boy friend again, which means she still thinks she’s not strong enough to survive without a man.

The next major obstacle the hero faces is being in law school and finding no one wants to help her or even be around her. This actually forces her to depend more on herself so she can survive without a man.

Once she starts succeeding in law school by herself, her next major obstacle is having her law professor try to sleep with her to insure she passes her classes. This makes the hero doubt if she’s strong enough to survive on her own.

Finally, the hero defends her first court case and she’s on her own. If she loses this court case, she’ll risk thinking she’s not strong enough to survive on her own. However, she wins her first court case, w which proves to herself that she is strong enough to survive on her own once and for all.

In every screenplay, the hero faces four major obstacles based on the theme. Divide a two hour, 120-minute screenplay in four equal parts and you have four Acts of 30 minutes each.

In Act I, the hero faces the first failure related to the theme. In “Legally Blonde,” this is where the hero’s boyfriend dumps her. In “Star Wars,” this is where Luke tells his uncle he wants to leave the farm but his uncle talks him out of it.

In Act IIa, the hero faces the first success related to the theme. In “Legally Blonde,” this is where the hero starts succeeding in law school. In “Star Wars,” this is where Luke starts learning about the Force from Obi-wan so they can find a starship to take them off the planet.

In Act IIb, the hero faces the second failure related to the theme. In “Legally Blonde,” this is where the hero’s law professor tries to sleep with her to insure she can pass his class. In “Star Wars,” this is where Obi-wan leaves Luke and eventually dies. Now Luke has no choice but to rely on himself from now on.

 In Act III, the hero faces the second success related to the theme. In “Legally Blonde,” this is where the hero trusts herself and wins her first court case. In “Star Wars,” this is where Luke trusts the Force and blows up the Death Star. Act III is where the the hero either chooses the opposite of the theme (a tragedy like “The Godfather”) or embraces the theme (a happy ending like most Hollywood movies) once and for all. Act III is where the hero must choose between the opposite of the theme or the theme once and for all.

Just by using the theme, you can outline the four major Acts in your screenplay. The pattern is Failure, Success, Failure, and finally complete Success. If you’re writing a tragedy, the pattern is the reverse. Success, Failure, Success, and finally Failure. 

Study your favorite movies and identify the theme. Then notice how each Act forces the hero to confront this dilemma of the opposite of the theme or the theme.