Maruzzella is in love with Salvatore, who in turn is infatuated with Donna Carmela, Maruzzella's stepmother. As if that were not enough, Carmela deprives Maruzzella of her inheritance. When Salvatore comes to visit Renato, his old poor and needy schoolmate, the situation takes a strange development.
Rambaldo Tramontana, a count who went into battle backed by the French, returns to Matera to take revenge once he is victorious, but the city is deserted and he begins to commit abuses and violence.
