There seems to be a consensus that Isak is lonely and isolated because he is cold and aloof. Actually, he does not seem so bad. He is friendly enough with other people, and he appears to be content with his relatively solitary existence. Anyway, Sara, the woman he loved when he was young, married his brother, and somehow that was Isak's fault, because he was cold and aloof. And Karin, the woman he ended up being married to, cuckolded him, but that was also Isak's fault, because he was cold and aloof. He visits his mother, who is cold and aloof. His son Evald is cold and aloof.
I suppose the point is that he should have been warm and accessible, and then Sara would have married him and they would have lived happily ever after. Or Karin would have been faithful to him and they would have lived happily ever after. And they would have raised their son Evald to be warm and accessible, so that he and his wife Marianne could have lived happily ever after. And being warm and accessible, Evald would have been happy to hear that Marianne was pregnant, so that they would have a child of their own, whom they could raise to be warm and accessible.
Having seen the error of his ways, Isak decides that he will henceforth become warm and accessible. Better late than never. So, he asks Agda, his maid of forty years, if she would like to be on a first-name basis. She rebuffs him.
I suppose the point is that he should have been warm and accessible, and then Sara would have married him and they would have lived happily ever after. Or Karin would have been faithful to him and they would have lived happily ever after. And they would have raised their son Evald to be warm and accessible, so that he and his wife Marianne could have lived happily ever after. And being warm and accessible, Evald would have been happy to hear that Marianne was pregnant, so that they would have a child of their own, whom they could raise to be warm and accessible.
Having seen the error of his ways, Isak decides that he will henceforth become warm and accessible. Better late than never. So, he asks Agda, his maid of forty years, if she would like to be on a first-name basis. She rebuffs him.