Religious tradition
This book touches on important parts of religious tradition in the West. For instance, the plot seems to hang from the church because many of the central characters (especially at the beginning of the book) are clergymen involved in political decisions within the church body. The conundrum that they deal with has archetypal significance; who is more entitled to leadership, a son of a minister or a minister's assistant? That is the major source of schism in many world religions from Islam to Buddhism. The portrait of religious tradition is not a depiction of true religious life, but focuses more on the social dynamics of the church within its cultural setting.
Romance and marriage
The culture and setting within which the church is embedded is seen in Dr. Stanhope's story where he is hard at work trying to get his daughters into shape. An interesting note about this thematic coverage of marriage can be found in Mr. Slope's opinion of Stanhope's daughter. Slope admires the qualities about Stanhope's daughter which seem offensive and undesirable to Stanhope because of his authority-prone character. Slope prefers Eleanor for being a free spirit, which is informative thematically because it can be seen as an allegory for what Stanhope failed to approve of in his daughter. By being herself, she helps him to get her married off, but on accident.
Politics and the human experience
In both the religious and the civilian realms, the novel shows a reality that this replete with social influence. Scene by scene, the reader witnesses the concatenation of moments where characters converse and are able to influence ongoing decision-making processes that define each character in a symphonic way. The major theme of this social interaction is found in the church politics. The Prime Minister's involvement in local church affairs is a wonderful portrait of the unfortunate truth about human nature; as romantic as it seems to believe a church might not have politics about its government, that ideal is clearly not an option on earth where humans are so political by nature.
