Ulrich

This is the main character of the novel. He is a young man, but is presented as being neither the youngest nor anywhere near the oldest. He is used to model the idea of the man without qualities. Somehow there is the unspoken question of whether or not Ulrich really has no qualities or if he is just an idealistic young man trying to be or to become something that may be true but might also be false. The idea of what a man without qualities is does not seem to be shown or explained all that clearly in the novel. It is possible that the summary writer has not understood what has been presented, or that Robert Musil was attempting something rather challenging in the novel.

Ulrich fornicates. During the novel he has two romances, but these are not ongoing at the same time. Ulrich has been...