Tragedy 5 Acts
New York 1932
Orin Mannon returns to his family after the American Civil War to find that his father, Gen. Ezra Marmon, has just died. His mother Christine, who has murdered the General, and his sister Lavinia, who knows their mother's guilt, give conflicting versions of the death. Lavinia attests to the murder, but Christine is able to persuade Orin, for a time, that Lavinia has gone mad with grief.
Eventually, Lavinia entices Christine into re-establishing contact with the latter's lover, Adam Brant, thus satisfying Orin that their father was indeed murdered. Lavinia and Orin lie in wait for Brant, and Orin murders him, to the delight of the implacable Lavinia.
When she hears of Brant's death, Christine commits suicide. Realising too late that he still loved his mother despite her infidelity, Orin suffers a breakdown, but Lavinia, with cold resolve, tries to calm him with an assurance that she will take care of him.
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