PAUL UND VIRGINIE. Puppet opera

The children Virginie und Paul grow up together in the natural idyll of the island Mauritius under the supervision of their mothers and a hermit. The children have meanwhile become lovers when, after happy years in isolation, a letter arrives from Virginie’s rich great-aunt. Virginie is to go to France, receive an appropriate education in the household of her aunt and finally become heiress. They agree to this after long hesitation and the couple must part ways in great sadness.
Virginie cannot get used to living in Paris and, after turning down an advantageous marriage proposal – she loves her Paul, after all – she is sent back to the pepper island from the disappointed aunt. Full of joy, Paul awaits his beloved. The ship is already within sight of the island when a storm breaks out, bringing the ship in distress. Many of the people on board drown – among them also Virginie. Paul, waiting on the beach, must find out that Virginie could have been saved if she had not, out of foolish modesty, refused to take off her heavy clothes. The horrible circumstances cause Paul to lose his mind, and he dies shortly after Virginie’s tragic death.