The play is set in a provincial Italian neighborhood. Mrs. Amalia Agazzi, a wife of the councilman Agazzi, her daughter Dina and her brother-in-law Laudisi are discussing the recent events that have been the main rumor in the neighborhood. Namely, the rumors are about a certain Governor's secretary Mr. Ponza and how he keeps his wife away from his mother-in-law Mrs. Frola, who lives next door.
They get a visit by their friend Mr. and Mrs. Sirelli and Mrs. Cini, who have come to get enlightened on the previously mentioned rumors. Mrs. Agazzi and Dina reveal how they went to visit Mrs. Frola but had the door closed in their face by her son-in-law. Her husband, Mr. Agazzi, was infuriated by this, so he went to complain to the Governor.
Mrs. Frola suddenly pays a visit to the Agazzi's to apologize and explain herself. She answers to the rumors by claiming that her son-in-law is obsessively in love with his wife, so much so that he doesn't even let her mother close to her, so the poor woman is forced to talk to her daughter over the window and secretly share notes.
After she leaves, Ponza enters the scene and explains to the curious crowd that his mother-in-law is mad and thinks her daughter is alive when she died for years ago, and when he married two years ago she started believing that his new wife is her daughter. This turns into a debacle in trying to figure out who is telling the truth, while Laudisi is the cynical observer who makes fun of each side whether they believe Mrs. Frola or Mr. Ponza.
Governor joins the scene and persuades Ponza to bring his wife because she is the only one who can tell them the truth. Mrs. Ponza arrives and says that she is everything they believe her to be. She is Mrs. Frola's daughter as well as Mr. Ponza's second wife. Laudisi ends the play by mockingly expressing his satisfaction of being right all along and laughing.
