《金瓶梅》以家庭生活的描寫為中心，映射出明代社會生活面貌的同時，也對其亂象表達了深切的觀察和憂慮。傳統中只有男性有家庭外社會活動的參與權，他們是「家」的小社會和「國」這個大社會的連結者，而《金瓶梅》中的男性人物，扮演「父親」角色時，多數都顛覆了傳統的期待，權威性和存在意義被消解，在家庭運作中缺席；而當這種描寫貫穿了整部小說時，其象徵寓意便成為值得探討的課題。《金瓶梅》透過父親形象的解構，在突出個人意識的同時，又直指克制欲望、為個人命運承擔責任的重要性，既表現了明代文化的轉向，也是對傳統倫理的省思。

Revolving around family life, The Plum in the Golden Vase not only mirrored the social milieu during the Ming dynasty, but also offered perceptive observations on and profound concerns over the chaotic situations of that time. By tradition, only men were entitled to take part in social activities beyond the scope of family. They were the units that connect the micro-society of family with the macro-society of state. However, most male figures in The Plum in the Golden Vase defied such a traditional stereotype. They lost their authority and raisons d’être by being absent as a “father” in their families. The moral of such descriptive writing has become an issue worth our investigation, since it was one of the themes running through the entire novel. By deconstructing the image of a father, The Plum in the Golden Vase managed to highlight the personal awareness of these male figures, and meanwhile recognized the necessity for them to control their desires and burden themselves with the responsibilities for their own fates. In sum, this novel not only faithfully represented the cultural turn during the Ming dynasty, but also sagaciously reflected on the traditional ethics.