Subtitle (titling)

In books and other works, a subtitle is an explanatory or alternate title. For example, Mary Shelley used a subtitle to give her most famous novel, "Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus", an alternate title to give a hint of the theme. There are at least eight books in English that carry the subtitle "Virtue Rewarded". Subtitles for plays were fashionable in the Elizabethan era; William Shakespeare parodied this vogue by giving "Twelfth Night" the pointless subtitle "What You Will", implying that the subtitle can be whatever the audience wants it to be. In printing, subtitles often appear below the title in a less prominent typeface or following the title after a colon.

Some modern publishers choose to forgo subtitles when republishing historical works, such as Shelley's famous story, which is often now sold simply as "Frankenstein".

Subtitles are also used to distinguish different installments in a series, instead of or in addition to a number, such as ', the second in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, and ', the second in the "Star Trek" series.

Examples

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*"The Hobbit, or There And Back Again"
*"God: An Autobiography"
*"Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be a Long, Long Time)"