The action takes place in an unspecified South American country in the 19th century. Immacolata, who married by proxy, joins her husband, an emigrant woodcutter. Upon arrival at the port, she finds a man bearing the agreed-upon signs and spends her first night with him, unaware that she is giving her virginity not to Gidda but to Pietro, a rival of her real husband who wants revenge. Immacolata's encounter with Gidda is not a happy one: the young bride is welcomed into the house only out of pity, neglected, mistreated, and finally abandoned by her husband to reunite with his mistress, a woman of ill repute named Nazaria. The rival returns to interfere and, in a shootout, ends up mortally wounding Immacolata, who was trying to protect her husband. When it is too late, Gidda realizes his dramatic mistake.