A title card tells us this is a study on the theme of Mélisande. A female figure, her face hidden by a long veil, dances, twirls, and runs on the shore. She leaps on rocks along the edge of the sea, her veil wafting behind her. She raises her arms; waves crash. Mist hides the hills. She becomes desolate, moving slowly, pausing to lower her head. She leans against rocks, which have torn the ends of her train; it's tattered. She moves slowly, falling down. She retreats into the mist and then the woods. She staggers. A hooded figure, all in black, waits in a rowboat at the edge of a calm bay. She boards the boat and stands in the stern as he rows away.