 David refuses to read Melanie's statement, defend himself, or apologize in any sincere form and so is forced to resign from his post.Lurie is working on an opera concerning Lord Byron's final phase of life in Italy which mirrors his own life in that Byron is living a life of hedonism and excess and is having an affair with a married woman.Dismissed from his teaching position, he takes refuge on his lesbian daughter Lucy's farm in the Eastern Cape.