Wealthy young newlywed Séverine (Catherine Deneuve) loves her husband (Jean Sorel), but can't bring herself to be intimate with him. So to sate her physical desires, she indulges in erotic daydreams, often blurring the line between reality and fantasy. When that isn't enough, she begins frequenting a classy Parisian brothel, working as a prostitute under an assumed name while remaining celibate within her marriage.