When unskilled laborer Martin Eden meets Elena, the daughter of a wealthy industrial family, it's love at first sight. The well-educated, refined young woman soon becomes an obsession for Martin, who hopes that his dreams of becoming a writer will help him rise above his humble origins to be able to marry Elena. Martin sets out with great determination to obtain the education that his class has never allowed him to receive. Finding support in an older friend, Martin soon becomes involved in socialist circles, leading not only to political reawakening but also a conflict with Elena and her bourgeois world.