The protagonist of the novel is a woman. The main theme is freedom. At the very beginning of the play, Vera Pavlovna utters a text that becomes the manifesto of her life: “I want to be free, I do not want to be indebted to anyone, I do not want anyone to tell me: you must do this for me! I want to do only what I want. And let others do the same; I don’t want to demand anything from anyone, I don’t want to restrict freedom and I want to be free myself. ”