Burial Rites

A confirmation gift Lauga received, the way it is treated in its two appearances shows the change in Agnes’s status with the Jonsson family. When she first sees it, she is scolded by Lauga and Margret for touching it. However, at the end of the story as she awaits execution, Lauga gives Agnes the brooch to take with her, symbolizing that all members of the family have accepted Agnes as their own.

For both Inga’s family and the Jonsson household, the storage house is used as a place of retreat in times of trauma. During her childhood, after Agnes lost her foster mother Inga, she would go into the cold storage house where Inga’s body was kept until spring to be with the woman she saw as her mother. Shortly before Agnes was taken to be executed, Lauga—who had the least sympathy for Agnes—was overcome with emotion herself and withdrew to the storage area to be alone and cope with her grief.

Agnes’s clothed are a recurring motif. When she is first introduced, she is wearing soiled, filthy clothing that make her look like a haggard beggar. It is the first sign of a connection between the two women that Margret bathes her and gives her servant’s clothing instead. Before her execution, the Jonsson family dresses her in their finest clothing as a symbol of their affection for her. This helps Agnes face her death with dignity and a family by her side.