This is the story of the unhappy maid Lena, who falls in love with the furniture mover Franz. But Franz' former girlfriend Karla is jealous of Lena and starts an intrigue against the couple, suggesting that Franz would leave Lena because of her poverty and shabby clothes. So Lena steals a ring and brings it to the pawnshop in order to get some money to buy something more attractive.
Shortly after being demobilized, Georges Duroy becomes aware of his power over women in the arms of Rachel, a young singer. Thanks to his good looks and his charming manners and his unabashed cynicism he will rapidly rise to the top by courtesy of women women (Mme Walter, Clotilde, Madeleine), from journalist to member of Parliament to cabinet minister. But it is also the fair sex that will cause his fall in the end.
