It was not love that drove the aspiring lawyer Alois Hofstätter into marriage with the actress Olga, the significantly older widow of a deceased client; it was her status and wealth, her slightly mature erotic aura, and the undeniable fact that she was expecting a child from him. Hofstätter's true and eternal love is for art, and his passion is for gambling, ever since he briefly and unsuccessfully fell for a young man who knew how to direct his desires not only towards himself but also towards the casino. His wife keeps him debt-free, and the child has since grown into a young man, on whom the senses of the practicing aesthete can find solace, providing a balance for the physical and emotional demands of his wilting companion. Yet, the structure of the bourgeois facade...