Victor Van Dort, the son of nouveau riche fish merchants, and Victoria Everglot, the neglected daughter of impoverished aristocrats, prepare for their arranged marriage, which will simultaneously raise the social class of Victor's parents and restore the wealth of Victoria's family ("According to Plan"). Although they fall in love instantly, the nervous Victor ruins their wedding rehearsal by forgetting his vows and clumsily setting Lady Everglot's dress on fire. Fleeing to a nearby forest, he practices his vows with a tree and places his wedding ring on a root. However, the root is revealed to be the finger of a dead woman named Emily, who rises from the grave claiming that she is now Victor's wife, and spirits him away to the Land of the Dead.