Romantic drama of a woman's abandoned pursuit of love and the three men who loved her. Emma Rouault is a daughter of a peasant. Eager to get away from her mediocre life, she marries a health officer, Charles Bovary. Emma soon gets bored, and fancies luxury. She takes one lover after the other, contracts debts, ruining her life. Desperate, she poisons herself, to her husband's helpless eyes.