Fyodor Ivanych Lavretsky is the child of a distant, Anglophile father and a serf mother who dies when he is very young. Lavretsky is brought up as a nobleman, at his family's country estate home, by a severe maiden aunt. He pursues an education in Moscow, and while he is studying there, he spies a beautiful Varvara Pavlovna at the opera. They fall in love, marry, and move to Paris, where Varvara Pavlovna becomes a very popular salon hostess and begins an affair with one of her frequent visitors. Shocked by her betrayal, Lavretsky severs all contact with Varvara and returns to his family estate. Upon his return, Lavretsky meets young Liza, a lovely daughter of his cousin. He starts falling in love with her when his past shows up at his door.