Gardens (Motif)
Throughout the story, Sultana, Sister Sara, and the other women walk through or converse in gardens. Ladyland is made up of many gardens and the Queen wishes to make all of Ladyland a garden—a symbol of natural fertility, growth, and prosperity. The symbolic value of the garden reinforces Ladyland's utopian quality as a haven where women are allowed to blossom, just as flowers bloom and have plentiful rain and resources.
Koh-i-Noor (Symbol)
The Koh-i-Noor, a famous, large diamond, is mentioned as a symbol of the greed that dominates patriarchal political rule. When the Queen mentions that the women of Ladyland do not wish to invade other countries or seek the Koh-i-Noor, she uses the reference to the diamond as a way of communicating that Ladyland does not seek material glory. Unlike male-dominated patriarchal countries, the women of Ladyland focus on progress through science and innovation rather than wealth or conquest.
The air-car (Symbol)
The air-car that Sister Sara builds to transport Sultana across Ladyland symbolizes the progressive technological advancement of Ladyland. The car is unlike anything that Sultana sees in her own home country and regular life. It uses hydrogen wheels and wings to power itself, two technologies that are utterly fantastical but used to convey the advanced engineering that is made possible in Ladyland once men are absent.
The dream (Allegory)
Because the entirety of the story takes place in a dream, it can be interpreted as an allegory: a story that conveys a hidden meaning or larger message about the topics it approaches. In "Sultana's Dream," the allegorical space of Ladyland offers a possible vision of what society could be without men. Its message is overtly political: if men were restricted from society, life would vastly improve. Crime would be eliminated, women would be safe, technology would flourish, and the natural world would be restored.
Nature (Motif)
The theme of coexisting with nature arises in many instances throughout the story, as the women peacefully harvest rainwater and control it to prevent natural disasters, as well as powering their technology through solar energy rather than extracting non-renewable resources from the world around them. As the Queen tells Sultana, the women's goal is to coexist with nature rather than exploit it.
