What is important for marriage?

A main character is a 39-year-old single woman who was exiled from home and lives a calm life in a quiet hotel in Switzerland. The first half of the story is about weird personalities and complicated lives of the customers of the hotel, which is revealed thorough conversations among them. And why she, the main character, had to be exiled is also unveiled here. In the latter half, a man who has a social status appears before her as a hotel guest, which drives her to think that "Does marriage for getting a higher social position without love brings happiness?" I think a good point of a fiction in difference to an essay is you can share the experience with the main character and enjoys the idea that what you will do if you were her. In that way you can expand your thinking ability and establish your opinion on a moral issue more firmly. This novel is not an exception because it is full of unique sense of values of each character.