As a hot-blooded young corporal in the Spanish cavalry stationed near Seville, Don Jose is ordered to arrest Carmen, a young, flirtatious Gypsy woman, for assaulting a co-worker. Greatly charmed by her, Jose allows her to escape. He deserts the army, kills two men on Carmen's account, and takes up a life as a robber and smuggler. He is insanely jealous of Carmen, who is unfaithful to him, and when she refuses to change on his behalf, he kills her and surrenders himself to the authorities.
