Thornton Darcy, a poet, is working on an allegorical poem called "Virtue," depicting the world before the advent of evil, with a nude female figure representing Virtue as the guiding spirit. He falls asleep and wakes to find his dream girl, Virtue, has come to life as a young woman named Purity Worth. They fall in love, but Darcy's financial struggles prevent them from getting married. Purity helps Darcy by posing for a painter, Claude Lamarque, and earning money to get Darcy's book of poems published. Darcy becomes successful, but when he sees Purity posing for Lamarque and another man, he wrongly assumes she is promiscuous and breaks up with her. Purity keeps the truth from him and he eventually realizes the truth and they reconcile.