From the translator's introduction: "Eve, an ingenue, is in love with Robert, a deserving young man. Adam lusts after Eve. Adam wants to send Robert into the army - or at least threaten to do so - to get rid of him. He blackmails Eve with this threat. This reminds us of King David sending Uriah to war so that David would be free to seduce Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. The comedy suggests underlying sorrow. Plain laughter is purification, but laughing at someone or something is derision. There is plenty of both in this play. Its sorrow, as well as its comedy, derives from its focus on three of the Seven Deadly Sins: arrogance, wrath, and especially lust."