The film presents the tale of Agnese Ascalone, daughter of prominent quarry owner Vincenzo Ascalone, and takes place in a small town in Sicily (specifically Sciacca), as did Germi's previous film, Divorce, Italian Style. Agnese, who is 15, is "seduced" by her sister Matilde's fiancé, and has a tryst with him for which she confesses and tries to repent, only to be discovered by her mother and father when she shows symptoms of pregnancy. Vincenzo immediately demands that the man, Peppino Califano, marry his daughter. Peppino decides he does not want to marry her, as she is no longer a virgin. Vincenzo, incensed by this, plots to murder him and attempts to induce his son Antonio do so. Agnese becomes aware of the plot and escapes her home (in which her family is locking her in) to report it to the police. The police arrest both parties and both men deny anything happened. The prosecutor ultimately decides to charge Peppino with statutory rape, since she was under the age of consent which was 16. Both sets of parents pressure Agnese to marry him as there is an exception to statutory rape laws if the parties had eloped.[1] Vincenzo forces Peppino to stage a fake kidnapping of Agnese and then marry her. Everyone appears before the magistrate to inform him of the happy ending to the story. But things do not go as planned: when the magistrate asks Agnese for confirmation, the girl bursts into tears and the magistrate deduces that she is being forced into marriage. As the Ascalones return home from the magistrate's court, the villagers mock them vehemently. This is too much for Vincenzo, who suffers a heart attack. Confined to bed, he manages to convince Agnese to marry Peppino, then dies in secret, sacrificing his life on the altar of honour so as not to delay the wedding. Matilde takes her vows to become a nun.
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