After her mother goes to bed, Lena initiates an argument with Harold about the way they live. She attempts to redefine their marriage. The argument is interrupted by the sound of glass shattering. The rickety table that Harold designed and made has collapsed and broken a vase in the bedroom where Lena's mother is staying. Upstairs, Lena tells her mother that she knew it would break; her mother asks her, if you knew that this was going to happen, why didn't you do something about what was obviously inevitable?
The table that Harold made as an architectural student is a symbol for Lena and Harold's marriage. Like their relationship, the table is rickety and badly designed — ready to collapse with the slightest provocation. Harold is as oblivious to the table's bad design as he is to the disintegration of his marriage. This fact is evident by the ice cream incident. Harold continues to buy ice cream every week and never notices that Lena never eats any of it. He has no idea that she hates it and that it makes her nauseous. When Mrs. St. Clair points this fact out, Harold completely misinterprets what she is saying. He thinks that she's commenting on Lena's skinny body, that she's made a joke.
Harold is similarly oblivious to the inequality in his relationship with Lena. Under the guise of such modern cliches as "false dependencies," "love without obligation," and "equality," Harold has designed a situation where it's clear to us that Lena has gotten a raw deal. She was co-founder of his architectural firm, providing not only seed money through the rent, as well as constant moral support, but also the creative ideas for the projects. She is the one who thought up the firm's specialty — "theme eating" — which became the underpinning of the business. Yet Harold refuses to recognize her contributions. Indeed, he deliberately prevents her from sharing financial success because he insists on avoiding "favoritism." Lena feels enormous resentment. She likens her husband to Arnold, the pockmarked boy who tormented her as a child. Here, note the similarity between the names "Arn-old" and "Har-old." Finally, Lena regards her husband as another form of punishment that she must endure.
