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In books and other works, thesubtitle is an explanatorytitle added by the author to the title proper of a work.[1] Another kind of subtitle, often used in the past, is thealternative title, also calledalternate title, traditionally denoted and added to the title with the alternative conjunction "or", hence its appellation.[2]
As an example,Mary Shelley gave her most famous novel the titleFrankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, whereor, The Modern Prometheus is the alternative title, by which she references theGreek Titan as a hint of the novel's themes.[3]
A more modern usage is to simply separate the subtitle by punctuation, making the subtitle more of a continuation or sub-element of the title proper.
In library cataloging and in bibliography, the subtitle does not include an alternative title, which is defined as part of the title proper: e.g.,One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw is filed asOne Good Turn (title) andA Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw (subtitle), whileTwelfth Night, or What You Will is filed asTwelfth Night, or What You Will (title).
Subtitles and alternative titles for plays were fashionable in theElizabethan era.William Shakespeare parodied this vogue by giving the comedyTwelfth Night his only subtitle, the deliberately uninformativeor What You Will, implying that the subtitle can be whatever the audience wants it to be.[4]
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 forget subtitles when republishing historical works, such as Shelley's famous story, which is often now sold simply asFrankenstein.
In political philosophy, for example, the 16th-century theoristThomas Hobbes named his magnum opusLeviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, using the subtitle to explain the subject matter of the book.
In film, examples of subtitles using "or" includeDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb andBirdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).
Subtitles are also used to distinguish different installments in a series, instead of or in addition to a number, such as:Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the second in thePirates of the Caribbean film series;Mario Kart: Super Circuit, the third in theMario Kart video game series; andStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the second in theStar Trek film series.
Subtitle. The explanatory part of the title following the main title.
Alternative title. A subtitle introduced by "or" or its equivalent.
