translate English to German: Lydia's background in a poor, scattered rural family differs little from that of the above-mentioned "sweethearts" and to create an image of "decency", she has to borrow Emilia's silverware and entertain her guest with stock phrases learnt by heart from textbooks. That decency is a social category becomes more than evident.
Die letzten Szenen der Erzählung deuten ebenfalls darauf hin, wie oberflächlich das Gefühlsleben der Protagonisten ist.