This is a modernised version of the 18th-century drama by Reinhold Lenz about the miseries and humiliations suffered by a young private tutor. Treated as a servant by his employers, he is seduced by the daughter of the house and has to flee from the outraged family. Later, in a similar situation, he lands himself in the same sort of trouble. In desperation he castrates himself, and thereafter finds life easier and is accepted by society.