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The rich, miserly and somewhat elderly Don Pasquale is tired of the fact that his cousin and heir Ernesto refuses to marry a rich lady and keeps following the poor widow Norina like a lovesick fool. He therefore instructs doctor Malatesta – a friend of the family – to find a young, modest bride. This time, however, it’s not for Ernesto but for himself! His cousin then can kiss his allowance and inheritance goodbye. Poor Ernesto is at his wits’ end when he hears the bad news and decides to go out into the wide world. However, he does not take into account the actions of the good doctor Malatesta, who has long hatched a plan to help his friends, for better or for worse. Don Pasquale is introduced to a certain Sofronia, according to the stories the sister of Malatesta who has just left the monastery. In reality, she is the disguised Norina, pretending to be virtue and thrift herself. Pasquale is in seventh heaven about this ideal suitor and, without realizing it, enters into a marriage of convenience. However, it doesn’t take long before he has to discover that his wife is showing him every aspect of married life. She hires a whole host of servants, orders luxurious gifts for herself and makes expensive plans to renovate the house. When it almost becomes too much for Pasquale, doctor Malatesta announces the arrival of the couple Ernesto and Norina. Pasquale’s wife shouts angrily that she will not tolerate another woman in the house next to her: ‘She’s gone or I am’. Of course, Pasquale does not let this offer pass him by and eagerly agrees to the marriage of his cousin and Norina, the opportunity to be rid of his wife. When he finally realizes that he has been duped, he takes it unexpectedly sportingly and admits that at his age one cannot marry young girls with impunity…
