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At the start of the opera, Giustino is asleep, dreaming of the glory and power the goddess Fortune has promised him. Giustino's first contact with royalty soon comes, when he saves the Emperor's sister from a bear. Later Giustino once again shows his worth, this time saving Empress Arianna from a sea monster.

Finally, misunderstandings, jealousy and greed turn against Giustino, but love and the rule of the righteous ultimately triumph.

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The opera tells, in a humorous tone, of the adventures of the naive and cheerful peasant Marenka, who suffers after being promised in marriage to Vasek, whom she does not know. He is the half-witted, stuttering son of Micha, a rich man. Marenka loves Jenik, a poor, honest young villager. Jenik is actually also the son of Micha's first marriage, but he ran away from home due to disagreements with his stepmother. When the matchmaker suggests that Jenik give Marenka up, he pretends to accept the situation in exchange for a payment of 300 florins, on condition that Marenka can only marry a son of Micha’s. Marenka feels betrayed by her beloved Jenik and her friends think she has been sold, but in the end truth and love will shine through.

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Oberon orders Puck to find a herb to make a magic elixir: whoever drinks it will fall in love with the first creature they see when they wake. Lysander and Hermia are going to get married. Demetrius is in love with Hermia and Helena with Demetrius. Oberon decides to help Helena, but Puck mistakenly pours elixir into Lysander's eyes. When he wakes up, he sees Helena, which makes him fall in love with her. Oberon also casts a spell on Tytania, while Puck casts a spell on one of the rustics, giving him a donkey’s head. Tytania wakes up, sees the donkey and falls in love with him. Oberon realises everything has gone wrong, so he decides to cast a spell on Demetrius, who, when he wakes up and sees Helena, falls in love with her. She and Hermia quarrel and Lysander and Demetrius decide to fight a duel. Before the sun rises, Oberon decides to remove the spell from his queen and become reconciled with her. When dawn breaks, everything returns to normal: everyone is with the right partner and life is back on the right track, in an unchangeable social order.

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Cleopatra dreams of becoming the country's sole sovereign and no longer sharing the throne with her brother Ptolemy. To claim the crown, Cleopatra allies with her enemy and seduces the conqueror of Egypt, Julius Caesar. Their love grows unexpectedly, defying war and political intrigue.

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Carlo, the eldest son of the Count of Moor, is seduced by a life of banditry after falling victim to a conspiracy by his brother Francesco, who strips him of his inheritance and sows deceit in his family. As Carlo sinks into a world of violence, his beloved Amalia fights to stay by his side, but Francesco tries to separate them by making her and her father believe Carlo has died in the war. When Carlo decides to return home, Francesco gives him a rude reception, but, cornered, he commits suicide and their father dies of grief. As Carlo does not feel he can drag Amalia into a disorderly outlaw’s life, he kills her and leaves to seek his own death.

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Ariane, a strong, independent woman, becomes Bluebeard's sixth wife and, on arriving at his castle, finds his five previous wives kidnapped there. Instead of following her path of liberation, they are unable to start a new life and prefer to remain subservient. Despite her efforts, Ariane realises she cannot impose her worldview on those who do not wish to change their destiny. In the end, it is she who abandons the castle, leaving behind a world of shadows that appears doomed to repeat itself.

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In Seville, Carmen is a free-spirited gypsy woman who falls madly in love with Don José, a corporal in the guard. Driven by his love for her, and against the wishes of his mother and Micaela, he leaves behind his respectable career for a life of danger with Carmen and her smuggler friends. But Carmen soon tires of Don José's possessiveness and longs to return to her independent life. When Carmen sets her sights on the famous bullfighter Escamillo, Don José's jealousy and desperation lead him to kill her.

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The Miraculous Mandarin

Three criminals use a beautiful young woman to seduce and attract men so they can attack and rob them. The first turns out to be poor, as does the second. The third, though, is a Mandarin who seems like a good catch. But when he falls into the trap, no act of violence can do away with him, and his desire for the girl keeps him alive even after he is stabbed. Only when the young woman fulfils his wish and gives him her love does the Mandarin finally die in her arms.

Bluebeard's Castle

Driven by love and curiosity, Judith follows Bluebeard to his castle, where she discovers seven locked doors. As she opens them, each reveals an aspect of Bluebeard's soul: a torture chamber, an armoury, a treasure, a garden, a vast kingdom, and a lake of tears. When she reaches the seventh door, the truth about her beloved is revealed: behind it lie Bluebeard's previous wives, condemned to live in eternal darkness. Judith, trapped by her fate and her desire for redemption, joins them while Bluebeard is left alone in the darkness, resigned to his perpetual loneliness.

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The defeated Farnace, King of Pontus, orders his wife Tamiri to kill her son and commit suicide to prevent them falling into enemy hands. Tamiri's mother, Berenice, hates Farnace and conspires with Pompey, the Roman general, to kill him. Selinda, Farnace's sister, is a prisoner of the Roman Aquilio, who falls in love with her, as does Berenice's captain, Gilades. She faces up to them to save her brother, and all ends happily.

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Iris is a naive young woman who attracts the attention of a nobleman, Osaka. He kidnaps her to take her to a luxurious apartment in the Yoshiwara district. She thinks she is dreaming or in Paradise. Osaka intends to seduce her but only succeeds in terrifying her. He soon tires of the affair and of Iris's simplicity, leaving her in the hands of Kyoto, a pimp.

He takes her to his brothel, where she is cursed by her father and, full of shame, throws herself into a well.

Her body ends up in the sewer drain, where a ray of sunlight shines on the clothes wrapping her. The half-dead Iris comes to life. In her delirium she hears the voices of her father, Osaka and Kyoto, all telling her about the brutality of life. The sun rises and proclaims its infinite love. Iris dies in the blazing sun, transformed into the flower that bears her name.