Surrounded by the romantic atmosphere of the Vienna forest and with Germany in an economic crisis and facing the Fascist threat, the characters of the play seem to have been taken over by their instinct to live. Suspended between the harsh reality of daily life and the need for survival on the one hand and their secret dreams and desire for true love on the other, they are daring, hopeful, and disillusioned, while submitting to an uncertain destiny. Under pressure from her father, young Mariane gets engaged to Oscar, a simple butcher. Alfred is having an affair with Valerie, a rich widow, whom he financially exploits. On the day of her engagement, Mariane will fall in love with Alfred and abandon everything in order to follow him, hoping to find the great happiness she has always dreamed of. But life itself will prove her wrong Showing a deep compassion for his popular heroes and through a magnificent combination of harshness and humor, Horvatt depicts society's decadence during the years of the Fascist uprising.