The poor spender

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