A Painful Case tells of the loneliness and isolation of two characters, Mr. James Duffy and Mrs. Emily Sinico. He is a lonely person who meets a woman by accident. Every morning he goes to work from his isolated suburb of Dublin by tram. In the afternoons, he goes to Dan Burk’s and eats his lunch there; a bottle of larger beer and a few arrowroot biscuits. At four o’clock, he is free. He has done the same work for four years, so his daily routine never changes. His evenings are always spent playing his landlady's piano or roaming around the city. He doesn’t have friends or companions; he enjoys his own spirituality by himself. He visits his family and relatives only at Christmas or for a funeral, but only when someone in his family dies. His only hobby is to attend an opera or a concert since he is a fan of Mozart.