I listenen to a podcast by Caroline Goldstein. She is a senior at at the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda. She did an analysis on the painting "The Goldfish Bowl". The podcast was about the women comparing herself to the golfish trapped in the bowl.
In my opinion, it looks as if a women was taking care of her family while her husband was gone. She probably wishes her husband was there with them. In the picture she is staring at the fish bowl. She is comparing herself to the fish in the fish bowl because she is trap in her own life. She has a job to take care of her family.