leitmotif

1. (music) A melodic theme associated with a particular character, place, thing or idea in an opera.Examples: "In Wagner's operas, especially his cycle of four operas known collectively as the Ring cycle, the leitmotif did not simply label or point to one particular character or object but rather conjured up a realm of ideas."

2. (by extension) A recurring theme.Examples: "People have pointed out the influence of Wagner’s music on my work. Certainly I do not disclaim this influence. In particular, I followed Wagner in the use of the leitmotif, which I carried over into the work of language."; "If one looks for a pattern in the political life of John Connally, one finds a leitmotif of scandals which threatened but never destroyed his career."; "Mann's adaptation of Wagner's technique and its development throughout his writing is analysed, including how Mann uses the leitmotif in a naturalistic, characterising and mechanical sense in Buddenbrooks, attaching it to persons and situations as etiquettes."Synonyms: common threadbroadly