Emilia Galotti is a young bourgeois woman. She is in love with Count Appiani and wants to marry him. A marriage of love. But when Prince Gonzaga sees a painting of her, he is infatuated. From his higher position in society, the prince claims to have a right to Emilia. Violence is not shunned. On the way to her wedding, Emilia is overtaken and Appiani is killed. Emilia is brought to the prince’s summer palace – for her own safety, or so she is told. There she is caught between the prince and her father. The former tries to win her and the latter is supposed to help her, but to no avail.