Lake Como: Renzo and Lucia are two farmers who are in love. But the cruel and despotic Don Rodrigo impairs their marriage because he is secretly in love with Lucia. The two have to flee from their Lombard village, and shelter by different routes: Renzo goes to Milan and Lucia in a convent in Monza. Even the plague of 1600 contributes to the prolongation of the separation of the two lovers, who eventually find themselves in a hospital in Milan.