A silent film about the famous Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean, whose life intertwines with a young woman, Anna Damby, and Countess Koefeld. Kean, inspired by the Countess, becomes entangled in a plot involving Anna, her guardian, and a roué named Lord Melville. The story culminates in a benefit performance where Kean's passionate denouncement of the Prince of Wales leads to his downfall.