Duty

Duty is all that matters to Baron Geert von Innstetten, who at age 20, loses out to the better established von Briest for the hand of Luise née Belling. He leaves the army, studies law, reenlists for the war of 1870, attracts the attention of Bismarck and the Kaiser and is named Landrat for Kessin District, Eastern Pomerania. When seventeen-year-old Effi Briest is told Innstetten wants her hand, she sees his character, position, morality and potential to go far. She declares that any good-looking aristocrat will suffice. Her Papa certainly lacks such ambition, having repeatedly turned down the Landrat post. He often digs at officialdom.

One of Innstetten's most consistent traits is punctuality about returning when leaves end. He leaves his frightened young wife overnight in a house he knows is haunted, reminds her that as a civil servant he cannot beg off invitations because she is lonely or...