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At an auction of the possessions of the dead Marguerite Gautier, Armand, her lover, bids on her diary and portrait.  The spirit of Camille glides to the portrait, opens the diary, and bids him read.

In the Paris glove shop of Prudence Duvernoy, Marguerite, a clerk infatuated with the Count de Varville, becomes a courtesan.  A year later, she lives in luxury and shuffles her admirers like a pack of cards, accepting or dismissing attentions at her will.

While at the opera with a wealthy old duke, she meets Armand, who leaves the theater when he learns of her profession, though he is as passionately involved as Camille.  They are reunited at a party and make a rendezvous, which is rudely interrupted by the count.  They retire to the country together, but at the request of Armand's father Camille leaves her lover and dies lonely and unhappy.