Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Disgrace, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Desire and Power
Shame, Remorse, and Vanity
Violence and Empathy
Love and Support
Time and Change
Summary
Analysis
David returns to Cape Town to find that his apartment has been broken into and his belongings stolen. The next day, he goes to the university to retrieve his mail and finds a new professor in his office. During this period, he tries to work on his opera about Byron, finally making some headway by focusing not on Byron himself, but on Byron’s lover, Teresa. He also starts composing music on the banjo instead of the piano, finding the humble instrument much more appropriate.
At this point in Disgrace, David’s life has crumbled to almost nothing. In stark contrast to his arrogant outlook when he first got in trouble for sexually harassing Melanie, he’s now forced to confront just how harmful it was for him to blindly follow his desires, as he truly has nobody and nowhere to turn to except Lucy and her farm.
Themes
