 Factory worker Jessie Cassidy is in a rut, living with and supporting her mother and lazy father and brother. After convincing her boyfriend Eddie Miller to marry her, she escapes her family only to find that Eddie is a poor idler as well. A rich acquaintance, steamship magnate John L. Hennessey, is smitten with Jessie and makes advances towards her. Although she initially rebuffs him, eventually her marriage falls apart and she does marry Hennessey. She doesn t love him but he provides her with all the comforts of high living. When a strike causes Hennessey to lose his shipping company, we find out where this leaves their marriage.