Twilight of a Woman’s Soul

The film opens with a lavish party set in a beautifully decorated garden at Vera's mother's estate, attended by the city’s wealthy. Vera, born into luxury, feels cramped by its safety and pretends to have a headache to slip away from the crowd. The butler fetches her, she reluctantly goes down to greet the guests, yet her restlessness persists as she fakes illness to leave the party.

The next day, Vera's mother invites her to join charity work among the poor. Vera is ecstatic and decides to devote her life to their cause, moved by how helping others makes her feel. This marks a turning point as she embraces a calling beyond her former life.

Maxim, a man Vera helps, writes to lure her back with a false concern about his worsening health. Vera goes to his apartment alone, and he rapes her. After the assault, Maxim drifts into an alcohol-fueled sleep, and Vera escapes, then bludgeons him to death in self-defense.

Vera is introduced to Prince Dol'skii, who impresses her with his marksmanship and charm, and she soon feels drawn to him. A month after their meeting, he declares his love and they share a kiss. However, when she kisses him, she experiences a vision of kissing her rapist and flees in turmoil.

Before marrying him, Vera decides she must tell Dol'skii the truth about her past. Her first attempt to confess is interrupted by his insistence that nothing can shake his love. She then writes him a letter detailing the past, but he is not home to receive it, so she burns it in frustration and fear.

Vera and Dol'skii marry and appear happy at first, but her planned confession creeps into their life. When she finally speaks of her past, he reacts poorly, his love shaken and withdraws, and Vera leaves him to fend for herself.

Dol'skii retreats into drinking and a reckless lifestyle to cope with heartbreak. After about a year, he resolves to find Vera again, driven by a longing that remains despite their separation. His pursuit is marked by stubborn hope and personal collapse.

Dol'skii hires a private detective who learns Vera is living abroad and has become a famous actress. He leaves Russia to search for her, but after two years his efforts fail to yield results, leaving him defeated but still yearning.

The prince finally finds Vera in the city where she performs in the opera and begs forgiveness, asking her to come back to him. Vera refuses, telling him that it is too late and that she no longer loves him. Dol'skii returns home in deep mental anguish after this decisive rejection.

With his heartbreak unresolved and despair mounting, Dol'skii returns home and ultimately takes his own life. The film closes on a note of tragedy, underscoring the irreversible consequences of the past on their lives. His death marks the final, devastating turn of the couple's tragedy.