"An Attempt at Reform." August Strindberg.

One-minute review: In Paris, a couple decides to marry, each with independent means, and to live as husband and wife, but not to have a family, and each to be independent of the other. He has his bedroom. She has hers. In between is a studio where they work. She makes artificial flowers, he’s an artist. Theirs is a perfect marriage. No babies. No servants. She is not a mere housekeeper for her husband, he does not have the responsibility of keeping her. But they do live as lovers and, after two years, this happiest of married couples, is disrupted by the inevitable and they live ever after as a typical married couple whose purpose is the rearing and protection of their child.

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature. Ed. Roger B. Goodman. New York: Bantam Books. 1961. These summaries do not do justice to the vividness of the stories. RayS.