I just watched this movie. And after it ended I thought to myself: "Was this some kind of morality tale?" Since there was toward the end some mention of "fate". But no, going beyond the individual morals, it is an exploration of love and sexuality vs. obligation. Which pivots on what the husband says to the wife when he sees her wearing the pearl necklace. He says something like: "Oh you bought yourself a necklace, that's okay, I won't be mad." Then he goes on to say that he will deduct it from her monthly allowance which he leaves on the night stand in the bedroom. (this is my rough memory here). So there is this connection with sexuality being the duty of the wife, and he "pays" her for it, almost like a sort of prostitute, except it is "legal" because they are husband and wife.

Then enters the stranger who wants to give her the pearl necklace. His only reason being that that she caught his eye...and it was almost like a game for him to go after her.

I can't remember all of the details, but it seems she feels some kind of obligation and for that reason goes to his house...or was it because she was trying to get the money back for his half of the restuarant bill which she had earlier paid for when he didn't have his wallet. But eventually we see that she falls in love with the composer, and then when they are walking in the meadow she says she wants to be with him forever. Why did she "fall in love"? It could be because she felt that she was freely choosing to "make love" and it was not a marital obligation, but done for the sake of the enjoyment, as well as the composer might have been a very attentive and tender lover.

But as they talk further she says that sometimes in life, happiness isn't possible, and she says she needs to stay with her husband because he has done so much for her.

But then it is revealed that the composer "needs" a new muse for every new orchestration he composes, and we see the singer, who at first quits, but then comes back...and we then must wonder why she came back? And it is hinted at that the composer and the singer are now together. At the rehearsal, the wife sees that she was just a "toy" to the composer, but she doesn't get angry, she just cries, because she loved him.

Then the banker does the blackmail, and she gives in to him because of the obligation she feels toward her husband. But then it is all too much for her in her grief, and she kills herself.

The movie is centered on the wife as the focus of the story, and how she makes choices based on obligations. All three men were on an equal level using the woman for their own ends, for their own enjoyment at the expense of the woman's free choice. Maybe more ideas regarding the meaning will come to me later, sometimes that happens the next day. Otherwise I would need to watch a second time to get to anything further.