This paper explains that, in "Mariette in Ecstasy", Ron Hansen utilizes the
symbols found in nature to enhance the repressed
sexuality Mariette experiences: In nature, sex is not a sin; it is a part of God's creation. The author points out that Hansen uses his poetic descriptions of the
natural environment as an editorial critique of the Catholic condemnation of
sexuality and pits the nuns' rejection of nature and sex against its insistent and wholesome presence, represented by Mariette. The paper relates that Hansen employs the natural image of moonlight along with Mariettes nakedness and the imagery of the rabbit wire, the rabbit being a symbol for fertility, tied just below her sex.