Ernst lives in a world that seems to stifle all passion. It is the world of a respected family in the province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, just before the outbreak of the First World War. His dominant father leads the family with rigor and authority. Ernst does not succeed in rebelling against the overpowering father - he too becomes a doctor - but his path is far from the ideals of his family: he marries his parents' former maid, but separates from her when he learns that she is just feigned pregnancy. He begins an affair with a young, married noblewoman who gives up everything to be serious.
Ernst lives in a world that seems to stifle all passion. It is the world of a respected family in the province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, just before the outbreak of the First World War. His dominant father leads the family with rigor and authority. Ernst does not succeed in rebelling against the overpowering father - he too becomes a doctor - but his path is far from the ideals of his family: he marries his parents' former maid, but separates from her when he learns that she is just feigned pregnancy. He begins an affair with a young, married noblewoman who gives up everything to be serious.