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Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Station Eleven, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
In contrast to modern technological civilization, which Station Eleven portrays as fragile, the novel presents art as something that endures. The first scene of the book (which takes place on the evening of the collapse) and the first scene after the collapse both feature Shakespeare’s famous play King Lear (one a performance, the other a rehearsal). The message is clear: even after the collapse of civilization and the death of billions, art remains. Art is powerful enough to survive the epidemic, in part because it isn’t reliant on technology or modernity. But even more so, the novel implies, art survives because it is so vital and so inextricably connected to human life. Art offers people a way to understand the world and a way to connect to a world now gone. It offers a way to connect to each other – artist to audience, and audience member to audience member, and might even be said to offer a way for an artist to connect to his or her own self – as Miranda seems to explore, process, and escape her own life through her art. And, finally, art connects people to the shared history of humanity. The people watching King Lear after the collapse, despite the hardships of their lives and the world they know they’ve lost, still feel themselves part of the human story.
Art may not be necessary to basic survival – to just staying alive – but the novel focuses on the idea that for humans, “survival is insufficient.” As the novel portrays it, the insufficiency of mere survival could be described as what makes us human. Or, put another way, it is the human instinct to create and celebrate art that makes us human. Art, therefore, will endure so long as humanity does, and humanity will endure so long as art does.
Related Themes from Other Texts
Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme…
Art ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Art appears in each chapter of Station Eleven. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
How often theme appears:
chapter length:
Chapter
Chapter 1
1
Chapter 2
2
Chapter 3
3
Chapter 4
4
Chapter 5
5
Chapter 6
6
Chapter 7
7
Chapter 8
8
Chapter 9
9
Chapter 10
10
Chapter 11
11
Chapter 12
12
Chapter 13
13
Chapter 14
14
Chapter 15
15
Chapter 16
16
Chapter 17
17
Chapter 18
18
Chapter 19
19
Chapter 20
20
Chapter 21
21
Chapter 22
22
Chapter 23
23
Chapter 24
24
Chapter 25
25
Chapter 26
26
Chapter 27
27
Chapter 28
28
Chapter 29
29
Chapter 30
30
Chapter 31
31
Chapter 32
32
Chapter 33
33
Chapter 34
34
Chapter 35
35
Chapter 36
36
Chapter 37
37
Chapter 38
38
Chapter 39
39
Chapter 40
40
Chapter 41
41
Chapter 42
42
Chapter 43
43
Chapter 44
44
Chapter 45
45
Chapter 46
46
Chapter 47
47
Chapter 48
48
Chapter 49
49
Chapter 50
50
Chapter 51
51
Chapter 52
52
Chapter 53
53
Chapter 54
54
Chapter 55
55
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Art Quotes in Station Eleven
Below you will find the important quotes in Station Eleven related to the theme of Art.
Chapter 7 Quotes
They'd performed more modern plays sometimes in the first few years, but what was startling, what no one would have anticipated, was that audiences seemed to prefer Shakespeare to their other theatrical offerings.
"People want what was best about the world," Dieter said.
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In the introduction to The Traveling Symphony, we learn that they perform music of all varieties, but that their theatre portion is strictly Shakespearean. Though they tried to perform more modern plays in the first few years following the collapse, unexpectedly, audiences prefer Shakespeare to anything else. Dieter’s explanation for this phenomenon is that people want what was best about the pre-collapse world.This quote in part explores the question of what art is preserved, since Dieter indicates that people want to preserve and experience what is best about the world, which in his opinion seems to be the very best Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum
Chapter 8 Quotes
I stood looking over my damaged home and tried to forget the sweetness of life on Earth.
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This line is spoken by Dr. Eleven in one of Miranda’s “Station Eleven” comic books. In the image accompanying this line, Dr. Eleven stands beside his dog Luli, surveying the broken space station and trying to forget how sweet it was to live on Earth. Dr. Eleven’s memory of a pleasant Earth while being stuck aboard a broken world is a parallel for those living in the post collapse world with perfect memories of the world before the Georgia Flu. Part of surviving, or moving on, is trying to forget just how sweet the old life was in favor of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor no
Chapter 11 Quotes
What was lost in the collapse: almost everything, almost everyone, but there is still such beauty.
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Mandel provides this short list of what was lost, even shorter than Chapter Six’s “an incomplete list,” during the Symphony’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in St. Deborah by the Water. Mandel emphasizes that even after the loss of civilization, of almost every human, the world is still filled with exceptional beauty. This surviving beauty, however, isn’t just natural beauty. It’s also the beauty that humanity and art are capable of creating, indicated by Mandel’s focus on Kirsten’s performance in the role of Titania. The Symphony’s goal is to remind people that such beauty still exists, even after the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem
All three caravans of the Traveling Symphony are labeled as such, THE TRAVELING SYMPHONY lettered in white on both sides, but the lead caravan carries an additional line of text: Because survival is insufficient.
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This quote provides the Symphony’s motto, later revealed as Kirsten’s favorite line of text in the English language: “survival is insufficient.” The line, lifted from an episode of Star Trek, speaks to the idea that, for humans, merely surviving isn’t satisfactory. It isn’t enough to just stay alive; we need to do something more to truly be human. For the actors of the Traveling Symphony, this “something more” is the performance of art, which enables the artists and viewers to experience culture, beauty, and pleasure even in the post-collapse world where much of one’s effort is put into the tasks Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem
Chapter 14 Quotes
"You're always half on Station Eleven," Pablo said during a fight a week or so ago, "and I don't even understand your project. What are you actually going for here?"
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"You don't have to understand it," she said. "It's mine."
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These lines come from an argument between Pablo and Miranda that Miranda reflects on in her office job. Pablo says that she is always “half on Station Eleven,” meaning that she is always partially thinking about her comic book project and not present in the real world. He continues to say that he doesn’t even understand her work. In one sense, his lines reflect the relationship between art and artist explored in the novel. Miranda is obsessed with her work, and she uses it as an escape from reality or bad situations. Even as she makes a big change in Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore
Chapter 34 Quotes
I’ve been thinking about immortality lately. … They're all immortal to me. First we only want to be seen, but once we're seen, that’s not enough anymore. After that, we want to be remembered.
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These lines are from the book that Frank is ghostwriting about a philanthropist. While bored in the apartment, Jeevan asks his brother to read a segment of his work, and Frank reads the pages that include the quote. The lines are in contemplation of death, immortality, and memory, and later Jeevan will come to suspect that they are Frank’s own thoughts as opposed to the philanthropist’s. Frank has been thinking about immortality, and says people who have done great things are immortal to him. People want to be recognized, he says, but, more importantly, they want to be remembered. Such Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas
Chapter 38 Quotes
“Well, it's nice that at least the celebrity gossip survived.'"
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Kirsten offers this line to August after ransacking an un-looted house. She discovers an old tabloid to add to her collection with a picture of Arthur and Miranda at the theatre at which Kirsten and Arthur performed King Lear at the beginning of the novel. This short joke of hers speaks to the question of what survives, particularly what art, as well as how are we remembered as people. Throughout the novel, Mandel shows that both high art and low art manage to survive the collapse, both on an intentional and a random basis. The gossip tabloids also show what Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explic
