A young woman from the Italian countryside experiences the dark side of the business after she moves to Rome to become a star.
The film presents the tale of Agnese Ascalone, daughter of prominent miner Vincenzo Ascalone, and takes place in a small town in Sicily. Agnese is seduced by her sister Matilde's fiancé, and has a tryst with him for which she confesses and tries to repent, only to be discovered by her mother and father.
A young man has a renewed interest in his girlfriend when he takes a job that separates the two.
