The problem of companionship marriages , i.e. marriages determined by purely practical rather than emotional motives, is addressed with all its pros and cons using two relationships . The four protagonists are the student Erich Helmholz and his wife Elli, a seamstress, both a happily married but not in love couple, and the consultant's daughter Maria, who comes from the best "stable" and who, in her ignorance, first allows herself to be impregnated by any man (without really understanding how this could have happened) and then, under pressure from her horrified parents, enters into a companionship marriage with another man who has brilliant career prospects.