The story involves Helen, whose entire life has been dictated to her. She follows the rituals that society expects of a woman, however resistant she may feel about them, and subsequently marries her boss, whom she finds repulsive. After having a baby with him, followed by an affair with a younger man who fuels her lust for life, she is driven to murder her husband. She is found guilty of the crime and is executed in an electric chair. The play is inspired by the real life case of convicted and executed murderess Ruth Snyder. Its 1928 Broadway première is considered one of the highpoints of Expressionist theatre on the American stage.
