From a tormented orphan with a clubfoot, Philip Carey grows into an impressionable young man with a voracious appetite for adventure and knowledge. His cravings take him to Paris at age eighteen to try his hand at art, then back to London to study medicine. But, even so, nothing can sate his nagging hunger for experience. Then he falls obsessively in love with a waitress, embarking on a disastrous relationship that will change his life forever....