When Lopukhov and Vera happily talk of their future married life, she wants to model it on his friendship with Kirsanov, a fellow med student with whom he shares rooms.
No shared room and bed for them.
But fellow students sharing rooms expect not to be together forever, nor even for very long.
They expect to move on with life, start a career, and generally they expect to get married.
And when they marry they will almost certainly expect to have children, many intending, expecting, or hoping to raise them together with their spouses.
It's far more than a temporary arrangement between friends.
And often involves a shared room and bed.
Oh, and not a word about sex.
Perhaps there isn't to be any?
L has spent much time explaining to her materialism and a rather mushy psychological egoism, which she accepts.
But despite what he tells himself it appears his love for her is selfless and his marriage to her involves considerable sacrifice.
Her love for and marriage to him are quite genuinely selfish, however.
A plot summary l have seen says she will want to dump him for Kirsanov, and L will kill himself to clear her way.
She and K will then live happily ever after.
The book is said to have been an inspiration, as responsible for the Russian Revolution as Uncle Tom's Cabin for our Civil War.
Go figure.
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