An eligible young man from New York high society, Newland Archer is about to announce his engagement to May Welland, when May's married cousin, the exotic Countess Ellen Olenska, is introduced into their circle. Almost against their will, Newland and Ellen develop a passionate bond, and in Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1920 novel, the three young people find themselves drawn into a poignant and bitter conflict between love and duty.