Boris, financially dependent on his uncle Dikoj, loves Katya, a sympathetic woman married to Tichon, a weak man dominated by his harsh mother Kabanicha. Kabanicha taunts Katya for her passivity when Tichon departs on business. Varvara persuades the reluctant Katya to meet Boris one evening whilst she meets her own lover Kudrjas. Katya and Boris fall in love. A massive storm unsettles Katya’s reason. Unnerved, she publicly confesses her adultery. As others search for her she encounters the departing Boris, now banished to Siberia by Dikoj. After they part Katya drowns herself in the Volga. Tichon is distraught, Kabanicha unmoved.