In the Latin Quarter of Paris, Mimi earns the nickname "The Mad Dancer" and poses in the nude for a sculptor named Serge Verlaine. After her father commits suicide, Mimi travels to the United States to live with her American relatives. Her new family heavily disapproves of her past and insults her for having posed for Verlaine. Unwilling to tolerate the abuse, she walks out and moves to Washington, D.C. In D.C., Mimi secures a new life and becomes engaged to Keith Arundel, the son of a United States Senator. Her hard-earned respectability is jeopardized when her bohemian past threatens to catch up with her and expose the details of her life in Paris.