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While researching to answer another Jude the Obscure question, I found a list of homework assignments related to this novel, in which the following one caught my eye:

Three times objects are burned -- Jude’s portrait, his ecclesiastical books, and Sue’s embroidered nightgown. There are additional references to “burning” love or kisses, to the Martyrs’ burning place, and to the burning of the body. Considering that fire both consumes and purifies, discuss the significance of these.

I read it some years ago and I don't remember noticing "burning" as a recurring theme. Is it really a significant theme in the novel, or has someone just found a word that appears a few times, without special significance, to make an assignment?

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    Based on your description, I would say that it is a motif rather than a theme. ("Theme" assumes that this what the book is about, or one of the things that the book is about.)
    – Tsundoku
    Commented Mar 16, 2021 at 11:59
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    I'ven't read Jude, but judging purely from the assignment that you quote, I'd say a strong case can be made that all these references to burning are connected thematically. This isn't to say that burning itself is a theme; as @Tsundoku's comment says, it's a motif. But the motif is significant, in that it relates to, reveals, or reinforces a destruction/purification theme in the novel. Someone who's read the novel could probably provide an answer showing how it does so.
    – verbose
    Commented Mar 16, 2021 at 12:08
  • @verbose I expect Gareth Rees or Fabjaja will be along presently to answer this one. Re theme vs motif, I wasn't aware of that difference - maybe the theme tag wiki could be edited to clarify its usage as opposed to other things like motif?
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Commented Mar 16, 2021 at 19:28

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