In The Verge, numerous images and symbols of death and rebirth are prominently featured. Among these, plants serve as the most significant symbols. Claire utilizes her plants to breathe life into her surroundings, possessing the power to both nurture and annihilate, as she illustrates at the conclusion of Act 1 with the Edge Vine. Throughout the play, Claire implies that she is unafraid of death and may even see it as a welcome escape from her unhappy existence, questioning, “Why should we mind lying under the earth?” She believes that being "planted" in the ground might enable individuals to emerge into a superior world. When Claire kills Tom at the play's end, it is driven by love, not hatred. She describes it as her "gift" to him, as, in Claire's unique view, death holds the greatest potential for new life.

The Verge is rich with symbolic motifs, both visual and social, which emphasize the constraints Claire feels trapped by. These motifs highlight the stagnant and unchanging nature of Claire's surroundings. The play introduces these themes early on with the stage description of the greenhouse: ‘‘The frost has made patterns on the glass as if—as Plato would have it—the patterns inherent in abstract nature and behind all life had to come out. . . . And the wind makes patterns of sound around the glass house.’’ Harry's actions also follow predictable patterns, which Claire finds unbearable. For example, in the first act, Harry insists on having salt with his egg, a habit he refuses to alter. Claire feels increasingly confined by these societal norms and yearns for liberation. She also attempts to break free through her speech patterns but becomes more agitated, exclaiming, ‘‘Stop doing that!—words going into patterns; They do it sometimes when I let come what’s there. Thoughts take pattern—then pattern is the thing.’’ Glaspell uses these patterns as a metaphor for how Victorian society restricted women to predetermined roles.

In The Verge, the themes of breaking and exploding are prominent throughout both the dialogue and the actions depicted in the play. Claire aims to revolutionize conventional ideas and ways of living, believing the best way to do this is by dismantling what currently exists. In Act I, Claire expresses her desire to disrupt normalcy and provoke change, saying, "I want to break it up! If it were all in pieces, we’d be shocked to aliveness." This idea is visually illustrated soon after when Claire breaks an egg. As the play unfolds, this theme continues to be associated with different objects and imagery. For example, in Act I, Claire talks about how plants can "explode their species," a process she describes as "beautiful" and "brave." In Act III, Claire tells Tom, "Perhaps the madness that gave you birth will burst again." Ultimately, at the play's end, Claire physically destroys the Breath of Life plant by pushing Tom into it and intentionally damages the greenhouse by firing a shot through its roof.

In The Verge, Claire experiences a sense of confinement due to her circumstances, and Glaspell employs various visual and textual elements to emphasize Claire's feeling of being trapped. In Act I, Harry tries to open the trap door only to find it locked. Frustrated, he exclaims, "Well, I love the way she keeps people locked out!" Although this remark is about the trap door, it symbolically reflects Claire's habit of emotionally shutting people out. This theme is visually echoed shortly after when Tom is locked out of the greenhouse. As the play unfolds, Claire attempts to express her belief that the war presented significant opportunities, stating, "We were shut in with what wasn’t so." Claire hoped the war would enable society to break free from its norms and constraints, fostering better communication. Sadly, she comes to realize that this transformation hasn't taken place, and people remain confined by the same patterns and situations. At the play’s conclusion, Glaspell once more underscores Claire’s desire to escape her perceived captivity with Claire's final speech. Her last word, before being absorbed into the reverie of the hymn, is "Out."