The whole play can be taken as a symbolic event. The facts about the conception and birth of Agnes’ baby are never entirely revealed, and much of what happens is ambiguous. References to miraculous episodes of the Christian tradition run throughout the drama and enhance the sense of unresolved mystery.

Annunciation, or Immaculate Conception  – an episode described in Luke I: 26-38 – is the revelation to Mary that she will conceive a child through the Holy Spirit who will be the Son of God.  This event is an important theme in Christian art and the countless images depicting it include the Angel, Mary and the dove of the Holy Spirit descending towards her – often aimed at her ear. In the play, Agnes says that babies “come from when an angel lights on their mother’s chest and whispers into her ear.” During one conversation between the doctor and the Mother, it seems that the Mother entertains the notion of an Immaculate Conception for Agnes. The doctor asks her if she thinks “a big white dove came flying through her window.” She does not, but she does not discount the idea of some kind of miracle taking place.
 
Stigmata  – These are wounds believed to duplicate those of Christ’s crucifixion that appear on a person’s hands and feet, and sometimes on the side and head. Of course, when cases of stigmata are reported, there is always a good deal of controversy about whether they constitute a hoax or a manifestation of a tortured soul. In the long history of the world there are reports of the ecstatically religious who have born the marks, and even the bleeding, of Christ’s suffering. Famous stigmatics include Stephen Langton of England, the first recorded case in 1222, and Saint Francis of Assisi in 1224. Naturally, there have been plenty of women inflicted by stigmata.

“non-religious” symbol
cigarettes –  these not only signal the doctor’s addiction, but also her sense of emptiness and lack of fulfillment. They can be said to represent worldliness and even a connection between the two worlds (religious and outside), when the Mother Superior shares a cigarette and a moment of humor with the doctor. We also learn that they are used as weapons against Agnes by her mother, when a deeply traumatic memory is revealed.