1. On one level, the play is an allegory which explores fundamental conflicts. The most compelling of these is the tension between Faith and Science, to some extent represented by the doctor and the Mother Superior. This dichotomy is directly explored during a scene between these two characters in the middle of the second act, but the struggle runs throughout the play – the clash between the religious life and the “real world.”

2. Another theme worth exploring is motherhood. Each of the characters has had traumatic issues with her mother or with images of herself as a mother, spiritual or actual.

3. Pielmeier makes use of the idea of addiction as it relates to each of the characters. The doctor admits her obsession with cigarettes. Depending on one’s point of view, Agnes can be seen as a fanatic or as an addict in regard to her relationship with God. And the Mother Superior is addicted to the notion of Agnes as an innocent, an attitude which helps to keep her centered in the religious life.