 Moliere s great 1668 comedy is relocated to a provincial backwater in Victorian England. Harpagon, a miserable old skinflint, contracts with the matchmaker Frosine for the hand of the beautiful Mariane. The war between the generations boils over when his son Cleante makes a play for the same young lady. The clever servant, Maitre Jacques, tries without success to talk sense into anyone. The whole situation comes to a head in a surprise ending.