Erroneous perception re: The "Dacha"

Rating: Null/10 (28 July 2001)

Doctor Zhivago is a must watch film. Some titles are naturals for certain events or holidays. We try to watch this one whenever the temperature outside gets above 100 degrees. Seeing the Winter Scenes out in the Country conjurs up a sense of escape from the heat.
At the risk of revealing Plot Details, I would like to clarify something about that scene that was distorted by the misleading publicity covering the release of this fine film.
Centered on that icy but cozy scene which comes to mind whenever I hear the Title, our Doctor was involved with someone; presumably "Lara". I was surprised to see (again) that he was living in the guest cottage with his wife and child. When he returned from his conscripted service, his family was gone.
His involvement with Lara occurred later, at her apartment. That occurred long after she had given up hope of finding her husband after the wars following the Revolution.
Nevertheless, the Hollywood impression was so strong that one could "know" that these characters abandoned all caution and holed up together before either had bothered to shed their spouses.
What many may perceive as a clumsy performance by Christie is really an expert display of skepticism. She has already been made mistress (willingly) to the Steiger character; who cynically replaced the mother with a younger, fresher version. Then, she is rescued by the Poet cum Communist Activist; whom she marries but loses during the wars. Her ambivalence at the hospital is an old-fashioned professional attitude of a nurse to a doctor. I thought it was proper to show her stare at a person whose past she knew to include a wife and a child. Finally, she is persuaded to leave the doctor - by Kamarovsky of all persons!
I concur that the real hero was ____________. (Fill in your own favorite.)