Maraton, a revolutionary Labour leader who has achieved success in Chicago, returns to his home country and is acclaimed as a prophet. He plans to launch a "universal strike" and bring Capital to its knees but is instead persuaded to compromise by the Prime Minister and his stunning niece Lady Elisabeth. His attraction to both Lady Elisabeth and Julia Thurnbrein, a sweatshop tailoress sympathetic to the cause, complicates his struggle between his positions as a liberal reformer and prophet of the poor.
