The action is set in 1850, when the moralizing of the puritans sealed the life of the simple people and the strict observance of the ethical rules of life consisted a prescriptive factor of society. At that time the influence of Puritanism is greater and the passions more violent and real. The play narrates the story of a forbidden love. The drama of the heroes, the son and the father Cabot, is very intense because both of them struggle against exterior enemies and interior obstacles. They are both sinners because the father at an old age is enchanted by a young lady and the son falls in love with his stepmother. Both of them go against the ethical law and become the cause of a disorder leading them to a tragic end. Their desire is so powerful and their longing so violent which brushes aside all the ethical laws. Much as their pain may be, their passion mellows them and it is so big and true making their sins fade.