In this filmization of Leo Tolstoy's novel, Greta Garbo plays the sheltered wife of Czarist official Rathbone. Intending to dissuade Rathbone's brother from a life of debauchery, Garbo is sidetracked by her own fascination with a dashing military officer. However, this indiscreet liaison ruins Garbo's position in 19th-century Russian society.