Epigraph

Definition of Epigraph
An epigraph is a literary device in the form of a poem, quotation,
or sentence – usually placed at the beginning of a document or a simple
piece – having a few sentences, but which belongs to another writer. An
epigraph can serve different purposes, such as it can be used as a
summary, introduction, example, or an association with
some famous literary work, so as to draw a comparison, or to generate a
specific context for the piece.

Epigraph is a very sophisticated form of literary device that can really brush
up a story very well. Nevertheless, a question that usually comes to mind
about this device is why an epigraph is always used in the beginning.
Sometimes, when you are done reading a book, you are so swamped by
the story that it makes you want to hold the book close to your chest and
transfer everything in it to your soul directly. It is because the book is so
amazing that it makes us want to remember everything in it. Now, imagine
how moving it would be to turn the very last page thinking you have finished
the book, and right there you find an epigraph that reflects on everything
you just read.

Examples of Epigraph in Literature

Example #1: Heart of Darkness (By Joseph Conrad)

Many famous poems provide good examples of epigraph. For instance,

“Mistah Kurtz, he dead,” is a line from Heart of Darkness by Joseph
Conrad, which was used in the famous poem The Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot
to describe how modern people have dead souls, like the character Kurtz
of Heart of Darkness. It is because they have taken materialism as their
demigod, and accepted its domination, submitting their spirits to it like Kurtz
did.

Example #2: Life: A User’s Manual (By Georges Perec)

The epigraphs used in the preface of Georges Perec’s Life: A User’s
Manual (La Vie mode d’emploi) notify the reader in advance that everything
is not what it seems, and that tricks are going to be played.

Example #3: The Brothers Karamazov (By Fyodor Dostoevsky)

Epigraph examples are also found in philosophical novels. The epigraph
used by Dostoevsky in The Brothers Karamazov is from the Holy Bible,
specifically John 12:24. It says:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abideth alone: but if it dies, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

Example #4: The Sun Also Rises (By Ernest Hemingway)

Ernest Hemingway used Gertrude Stein’s famous quotation, “You are all a
lost generation,” in the beginning of his book The Sun Also Rises. Through
this epigraph, Hemingway shows us the entire period in which they were
forced to live. The lost generation phrase as coined by Steinbeck was truly
reflected by Hemingway in his other pieces as well, but this novel proved to
be a mouthpiece for the lost generation.

Example #5: The Godfather (By Mario Puzo)

“Behind every great fortune there is a crime.”

This is a translated quotation from Honoré de Balzac given in The

Godfather, a famous novel by Mario Puzo. The epigraph given in this novel
presents the true picture of a gangster who earns a lot of wealth, and wields
much control over the lives of others. The Godfather is a true reflection of
what its epigraph suggests.

Function of Epigraph
The use of epigraph in an original work can create something very
intriguing. It can be used as a thematic gatekeeper, by taking excerpts from
influential authors to introduce people to your own ideas. It can be used in
the form of quotations, proverbs, lyrics, lines, or verses, or even parts of a
conversation. It can also be used to set the mood of the readers in the very
beginning, for the prose they are to read next.

A writer can also give readers a preview of his notions and inspirations
through an epigraph. Although the role of an epigraph in a work may seem
very insignificant, it can be very instructive, if used cleverly. An epigraph
deepens the readers’ interest in the narrative just like an appetizer
increases your appetite for a meal. It can also be used in places where the
writer wants to highlight a particular point with the help of an already
existing concept.
EPIGRAPH
Definition of Epigraph
In literature, an epigraph is a short quotation that is set at the beginning of
a text or section of a text to suggest the theme of what’s to come. The
epigraph can be a quote from a famous person, an excerpt or full text of a
poem, phrase, lyric, or definition. Epigraphs can be a sort of preface or can
set the mood or tone of the following work. Epigraphs can also invite the
reader to make a comparison between what the epigraph says and what
the rest of the text is about. Some authors use epigraphs to tie their own
literature to the greater body of literature in the world.
The word epigraph comes from the Greek word epigraphein, which means
“to write on.” The contemporary definition of epigraph was introduced into
English in the mid-19th century, when it came to mean a motto or pithy
sentence that prefaces a book or chapter of a book.

Common Examples of Epigraph

While there is a literary meaning of epigraph, the word epigraph can also
refer to inscriptions on buildings, statues, and coins. Non-literary epigraphs
work to figuratively label and give some sense of the symbolic meaning of
these buildings, statues, and coins. Here are some examples of epigraphs
that are used in everyday life that are not literary epigraphs:

 Statue of Liberty: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled

masses yearning to breathe free. (From Emma Lazarus’s sonnet “New
Colossus”)
 United States seal and coins: E pluribus unum (out of many, one)
 Yale University buildings: Lux et veritas (light and truth)
♦
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Significance of Epigraph in Literature
Epigraphs became popular in the early eighteenth century, when reading
for pleasure became common amongst middle-class citizens. Before this
time, people who read literature had generally read all of the canon. When
reading surged in popularity as a pastime, authors found it necessary to
provide a small excerpt from some work in the canon to give readers a
small anchor to the literary tradition. This was concurrent with authors’
optimistic and sometimes presumptuous desires to show how their own
new works of literature fit into the canon. The tradition of the epigraph was
ubiquitous for a time; some authors began to create fake quotes to use as
epigraphs partly to demonstrate their frustration with the literary canon.
Epigraphs remain relatively popular today, though, as authors find ways to
present the main theme or their works in brief through the words of other
writers.

Examples of Epigraph in Literature

Example #1
Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me Man, did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me? — Paradise Lost, X, 743-45

(from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley)

Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in the early nineteenth century when
examples of epigraphs were quite ubiquitous. She uses a quote from John
Milton’s Paradise Lost in which a human speaks to his maker (i.e., God); the
comparison here is that in Shelley’s novel man himself ill-advisedly becomes
the maker.
Example #2
Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her; If you can bounce high,
bounce for her too, Till she cry “Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, I
must have you!” — Thomas Parke D’Invilliers

(from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

The epigraph example in The Great Gatsby is one that F. Scott Fitzgerald
created himself. Fitzgerald is somewhat light-hearted, therefore, in this use
of epigraph. It still serves the purpose that others epigraphs do, which is to
highlight a theme of the novel to come. In this case, the epigraph suggests
that a man must wear nice things (and be of a high class) to impress a
woman.
Example #3
Lawyers, I suppose, were children once. — Charles Lamb

(from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)

Harper Lee’s famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird includes the important
perspectives of both Atticus Finch, a lawyer, and his children. While not all
lawyers might maintain a childlike empathy with the world, Atticus works
hard to be fair and impart this fairness in his daughter, the narrator.
Example #4
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death. – T.S. Eliot, “The Journey of the Magi”

(from No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe)

Chinua Achebe includes a pertinent example of epigraph in his novel No
Longer at Ease. He quotes from T.S. Eliot, whose poem mirrors the post-
colonial condition that Achebe explores at length in his novel. Just as with
the difficult journey the Magi took, the protagonist in Achebe’s novel travels
from Nigeria to England, and when he returns to Nigeria he finds himself no
longer at ease when he returns back to his home country.
Example #5
If they give you ruled paper, write the other way. – Juan Ramón Jiménez

(from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury)

Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 contains this epigraph
example that encourages going against the rules. While the protagonist of
the novel, Guy Montag, originally is part of a society that discourages
reading and enforces the burning of books, he later changes his views. The
quote from Juan Ramón Jiménez is a brilliantly succinct way of presenting
the rebellious nature that Guy embodies.
Example #6
And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her
sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.

And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel; and he said, Am I in God’s
stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear
upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. —Genesis 30:1-3

(from The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood)

Margaret Atwood quotes from the Bible in her dystopian novel The
Handmaid’s Tale. This short excerpt from Genesis is the basis for Atwood’s
entire societal issue, which is the use of women basically as breeding
machines. Just as there’s no sense in this passage that the maid Bilhah’s
own body or feelings matter, so too is there a lack of protection for the
protagonist in Atwood’s novel, or women like her.
Example #7
The reader should realize himself that it could not have happened
otherwise, and that to give him any other name was quite out of the
question. — Nikolai Gogol, “The Overcoat”

(from The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri)

Jhumpa Lahiri’s recent novel The Namesake focuses on a character who is
named Gogol Ganguli, named as such for his father’s favorite author. This
naming choice haunts the protagonist of Lahiri’s novel because it is so
unusual. Yet the epigraph example here presents the key dilemma; that
Gogol’s story would not have happened otherwise if he had been named
anything else.
Example #8
All the lives we could live, all the people we will never know, never will be,
they are everywhere. That is what the world is. –Aleksander Hemon, The
Lazarus Project

(from Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann)

Colum McCann quotes Aleksander Hemon’s The Lazarus Project to open his
contemporary novel Let the Great World Spin. In McCann’s brilliant novel
many people witness one event, which is a tight-rope walker walking
between the Twin Towers in New York City. McCann then follows many
different stories of people before, during, and after they witness the event,
showing the interconnectedness of all people.

Epigraph
An epigraph is a short statement (a sentence, a paragraph, a poem) that
comes at the beginning of a literary text, but the words belong to a different
author. The epigraph is used to introduce the current literary text, and gives
some clue as to its theme, or its connection to this previous text.
Examples of Epigraph:
At the beginning of The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway quotes Gertrude
Stein: "You are all a lost generation."
At the beginning of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley quotes Paradise Lost:
"Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me Man, did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me?"
At the beginning of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury quotes Juan Ramon
Jimenez:
"If they give you ruled paper, write the other way."
At the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee quotes Charles Lamb:
"Lawyers, I suppose, were children once."
F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the following quotation at the beginning of The Great
Gatsby:
"Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her; If you can bounce high,
bounce for her too, Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, I
must have you!"

Epigraph Definition
What is an epigraph? Here’s a quick and simple definition:
An epigraph is a short quotation, phrase, or poem that is placed at the
beginning of another piece of writing to encapsulate that work's main
themes and to set the tone. For instance, the epigraph of Mary
Shelley's Frankenstein is taken from Milton's Paradise Lost, and
establishes the book's main theme (i.e., the relationship
of contempt between creators and their creations): "Did I request thee,
Maker, from my clay / To mould me Man, did I solicit thee / From
darkness to promote me?"

Some additional key details about epigraphs:

Not all works have epigraphs. In fact, most don't. Epigraphs

are most common in longer works, like novels and books of
poetry.
Some writers love epigraphs so much they put them at the
beginning of each chapter.
Some books have more than one epigraph, placing two or more
quotations in dialogue with one another.

How to Pronounce Epigraph

Here's how to pronounce epigraph: ep-ih-graff

Understanding Epigraphs
Epigraphs are an often-overlooked component of literary works. Because
they're a part of the "front matter" (or the material that precedes the
actual beginning of the work) it's easy for readers to breeze right past
them without even noticing. Furthermore, the relationship between the
epigraph and the rest of the text is not always 100% clear, since the
author never—or very rarely—explains the significance of their
epigraph outright. For that reason, it's up to the reader to determine what
the epigraph "means" in relation to the text, which is typically only
possible after they've finished reading the entire work, since it's only then
that all the work's themes can be fully understood. Epigraphs can be
thought of as the reader's first hint as to the themes of the work they're
about to read.

Epigraph vs. Epigram

Epigraphs and epigrams are often confused for one another. The words
sound very similar and do refer to somewhat similar things—they're both
short, highly quotable blocks of text. But they are not the same. Here's a
quick overview of epigrams to help clear up the difference:

An epigram is a short and witty statement, usually written in verse,

that conveys a single thought or observation. Epigrams typically
end with a punchline or a satirical twist. While the term "epigram"
is used most often to describe a short poem, it can also be used to
describe a part of a poem, or even a sentence from a longer piece
of prose. Epigrams tend to rhyme because it makes them more
memorable, but as with all rules (especially when it comes to
poetry) there are exceptions.
To sum up the difference between epigrams and epigraphs:

An epigram is a type of statement or writing with certain qualities (it

is short, witty, often satiric, etc.)
An epigraph is primarily defined by its location (it is always found at
the beginning of a text) and by the fact that it is a quote of a
different text. 

Some Epigraphs Are Epigrams (and Some Aren't)

Epigraphs are sometimes—but certainly not always—also epigrams.

An epigraph that is an epigram: In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

uses an epigraph that may also be considered an epigram:
"Lawyers, I suppose, were children once." This quote (from an
essay by the 18th century English writer Charles Lamb) is an
epigram because it is a brief, witty, and satirical statement which,
even without the original context, makes sense all on its own.
An epigraph that isn't an epigram: The epigraph of Ernest
Hemingway's book, The Sun Also Rises, quotes Gertrude Stein's
influential remark about Hemingway and his peers, "You are all a
 lost generation." Like many epigraphs, the epigraph of The Sun
Also Rises is a short and revealing statement, but would not be
considered an epigram, since Stein's quotation is not particularly
witty, humorous, or satirical. It's an earnest observation about a
group of people that points to the main themes of the literary
work.

Epigraph Examples
The following epigraphs, taken from novels and poetry, exemplify how a
work can be strengthened by placing it in dialogue with a quotation or
excerpt from another writer's work.

Epigraph in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great

Gatsby
The Great Gatsby tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a man who claws his way
(through dubious means) into high society New York in order to win the
affection of the love of his life, a married woman named Daisy Buchanan.
One of the novel's major themes is the blindness and determination with
which people pursue dreams that turn out to be hollow. The book's
epigraph hints at this theme:
Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her; If you can bounce high,
bounce for her too, Till she cry Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, I
must have you!” — Thomas Parke D’Invilliers

The suggestion is not just that people will do anything to win their object
of desire, but that the entire courtship ritual is a silly and arbitrary dance.

Epigraph in Sherman
Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-
Time Indian
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian tells the story of Junior, a
Native American born with hydrocephalus, and who feels like a kind of
double-outsider, both from his own tribe and from the rest of
America. Junior takes refuge in his drawing, through which he finds the
strength to believe in himself and fight for a better future for himself. The
book's epigraph reads:
There is another world, but it is in this one. — W.B. Yeats
The epigraph points to one of the book's main themes: that finding a
sense of belonging often requires looking beyond appearances and the
approval of others, to discover a rich inner world and a source of strength
that transcends superficial social boundaries. By the end of the book,
against all odds, Junior has found a place for himself in the world,
overcoming racial and social divisions to earn the respect of his peers.

Epigraph in Arundathi Roy's The God of

Small Things
The events of The God of Small Things center around the life of one family
in India, and are revealed in a fragmentary manner, jumping between
different years and perspectives. This is important to the structure of the
story because the main events of the story—the drowning of a little girl,
the sexual molestation of a little boy, and a woman's affair with a man of
a lower caste—all set off chains of events that mean very different
things to the different people involved. Therefore, the different
perspectives given in the story are critical to actually understanding what
took place and its significance—and no one person's story is adequate by
itself. The book's epigraph sums this up nicely:
Never again will a single story be told as though it’s the only one. — John
Berger

Epigraph in Jorie Graham's The Errancy

The epigraph of Jorie Graham's 1997 collection The Errancy is a line from
the poetry of Thomas Wyatt:
Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.

The epigraph frames the collection of poetry as an attempt to hold the

wind in a net, calling attention to the impossibility of the project of
expressing the inexpressible through language, but also seeming to
affirm the project as a worthwhile and beautiful one.

Why Do Writers Choose to Write

Epigraphs?
Many works of literature don't include epigraphs at all, but a writer might
choose to attach one to their work for any of the following reasons:
 To place their work in dialogue with the work of a writer they
respect, or whose work they see as being related to their own.
To suggest one of the main themes of the work before the reader
begins reading.
To set the tone or mood of the work.
To create an association in the reader's mind—with a certain time
period, artistic movement, idea, or image.

Other Helpful Epigraph Resources

The Wikipedia Page on Epigraph: A simple overview of epigraphs in
literature.
The Dictionary Definition of Epigraph: A basic definition.
17 Incredible Epigraphs: A Huffington Post listicle detailing the
writer's favorite epigraphs—light on critical analysis.

Epigraph
A quotation from another literary work that is placed beneath the title
at the beginning of a poem or section of a poem. For example, Grace
Schulman’s “American Solitude” opens with a quote from an essay
by Marianne Moore. Lines from Phillis Wheatley’s “On Being
Brought from Africa to America” preface Alfred Corn’s “Sugar
Cane.” Browse more poems with epigraphs.