Marriage and family
Undine's story belongs in the domain of family life. She experiences the same desire for family that most people feel, but for different reasons than most. Her desire for marriage stems from a specific role she wants to play. She wants to be the careless wife of a powerful, rich man so she can spend money as much as she wants without ever having to budget or be careful. In other words, she starts families to exploit men of their money, deceiving herself about the wealth of her suitors.
Betrayal and brokenness
The specific marriage portrait that begins the novel displays an imagery of brokenness and betrayal. We see the couple in the context of marriage, and the reader is like Ralph—both the reader and Ralph are in the dark about Undine's character. Through her betrayal of Ralph, we see the imagery of how she affects the men that she dates and marries. By leaving them for neurotic, sociopathic reasons, she destroys their self-esteem, confuses them and leaves them desperate. She abandons Ralph to take care of their son on his own.
Money and time
In Undine's perception, there is a scarcity mentality. She feels she is running out of time, and the reader sees that experience of distress and urgency through the imagery of her point of view. She also experiences an addiction to a certain lifestyle and a certain way of feeling toward money. Together, these imageries explain why Undine is the way she is. She is chronically panicked about money and her urgent fears about money make her sociopathic because she can only think about getting what she needs (she thinks) for herself.
The sociopath
The imagery of the novel culminates to form a portrait of Undine's character. She does not experience other people as having the same importance as her. She strives to fulfill her desires at their expense without flinching or giving it a second thought. Also, she causes extreme pain in the lives of the men she marries, exploits, and divorces. This is clear in Ralph as he falls apart and succumbs to depression and confusion. Together, this forms a portrait of a certain way of thinking that is often called sociopathy.
