The Morals of Ruth Halbfass

Ruth Halbfass has been married to the industrialist Erich Halbfass for sixteen years in a loveless marriage and they have a fourteen year-old teenage daughter, Aglaia. Ruth has a love affair with Aglaia’s art teacher Franz Vogelsang, who is estranged to his wife Doris Vogelsang, and they are in love with each other. Ruth is afraid to ask for the divorce to Erich, who has also a lover, Helga, and she meets Franz in the afternoons. One day, Franz seeks out Ruth’s hairdresser Francesco and hires him to kill Erich. Francesco introduces his friend, the killer Bonaparte, to the teacher and they buy a rifle with an arms dealer. Meanwhile Ruth decides to open a business and meets the bank director. She gets 80 thousand Marcs and rent an apartment to meet Franz in his name. Franz freaks out and Ruth gives a three thousand-Marc check to him to close the rental and ends their affair. However, Franz uses the check to call off the deal with Francesco and Bonaparte. The smalltime crooks decide to use the check to blackmail Erich. And Doris Vogelsand lures Erich and brings him to the apartment rented in the name of Franz to kill him using the rifle her husband had bought. In the end, life goes on in a hypocrite society.