 Geoffrey, a young and impoverished writer, is desperately in love with Mavis, who lives at his boardinghouse and is also pursuing a writing career. Unable to marry her because of his poverty, in his anger he curses God for abandoning him. Soon Geoffrey meets Prince Lucio de Rimanez, a wealthy, urbane gentleman who informs Geoffrey that he has inherited a fortune, but that he must place himself in the Prince s hands in order to enjoy the fruits of his inheritance. What Geoffrey doesn t know is that Prince Lucio is actually Satan, who is using Geoffrey as an experiment to show God that he can corrupt anybody.