John Gabriel Borkman has been in voluntary seclusion in an upstairs room in his drab mansion since enduring a prison sentence for embezzlement. Still blindly hoping his career will be reignited, only his clerk Foldal, an aspiring poet, has remained loyal to him throughout the years. Unhappily married to Gunhild, she is surprised when her twin sister Ella arrives. Having been tossed aside by Borkman in favour of her twin, Ella was left to raise their only child, Erhart. Now that he's grown up and in love with an older woman, the sisters become locked in a desperate spiritual battle over his future. As Borkman rages against the confines of his claustrophobic household, he ventures out into the snowy hills where he finally learns the true consequences of a love betrayed.