A Woman's Life

Normandy, 1819. Jeanne, the daughter of Baron and Baroness Perthuis des Vauds, marries her new neighbor, destitute nobleman Julien de Lamare. She soon discovers her husband is not only miserly, but he’s sleeping with their maid, Rosalie. Both Rosalie and Jeanne find they’re expecting at the same time.

Jeanne’s son Paul is born just before the death of his grandmother and is still a little boy when Jeanne realizes that her husband is still cheating on her, this time with her new friend Gilberte. The local vicar tells Gilberte’s husband Georges the truth. Enraged, Georges kills both Julien and Gilberte before commiting suicide. Jeanne goes home to live with her father, but when he dies, she experiences serious financial problems when she has to pay off the debts of her irresponsible and selfish son Paul.