The minister's appointment
This book is especially meaningful to those who have experience with Christianity or a church. The bishops in this novel are clearly humans trying to do their best, but they are thwarted by their own imperfection which keeps them constantly open for criticism because it makes them hypocrites of their authority. However, church has legitimate clerical responsibilities which mean that the men can never separate themselves from politics. As a symbol of this dynamic relationship between religious idealism and politics, we see the Prime Minister himself appointing a bishop. That is an unfortunate connection between church and state.
The clergy wife
In what could be reasonably understood as a dig against the Anglican church, we meet a bishop who is plagued by his wife, the archetypal pastor's wife. There is a natural enmity in every marriage as two different people work through their shared circumstances with different points of view and different desires. Bishop Proudie's wife is a woman with a full-blown vision for the future that is radically changed by his service to the church, and she hangs that disappointment around his neck like a millstone. If this is an argument against Anglicanism, the symbolism would be a reminder about why originally, clergymen were to be unmarried. Without that critical lens, the novel offers a valuable portrait of marriage and religion intersecting.
Stanhope's allegory
Dr. Stanhope thinks he knows how to raise daughters! That is hilarious because as his allegory proves, the dance of male and female is far too complex for his structured approach to apply in this situation. He personally doesn't like his daughter's sparky attitude and independent nature, but his job is not to make his daughter into his own wife; his job is to make her thrive so that she will attract a mate. Eleanor thrives anyway, and her joie de vive which is the bane of her father's existence is the honey that allures her husband, Mr. Arabin.
Italy as a symbol
Throughout the story, people come and go to Italy, as if their physical bodies and the political business that they tend to is some sort of political dialogue between the nations. That is a natural symbol because the author could have chosen to send those characters to any part of Europe, but instead he picks the birthplace of Catholic Christianity. Together, a symbolic dialogue can be seen between the old world and the tenacious new world with their marrying Bishops and their individualistic way of life.
The timeless cathedral
The church is a building that will far outlive the characters of this plot, and although the symbolism of the towers is silent in the text, the title makes the symbol sing loudly. The architecture that defines their experience of religion is seemingly in the backdrop, but time will make the building a witness to many generations of humans who will also become ministers and professionals, who will also get married and be given in marriage. That makes the church a symbol for tradition which outlives the specific people whose belief constitutes that tradition.
