After the death of Tristana's mother Josefina, she is taken in by an older family friend, Don Lope, who seduces her.
Tristana, rebelling against this situation, meets and falls in love with the young Horacio.
Horacio leaves Madrid for a certain period of time, during which Tristana's leg is amputated, forcing her once again to be reliant on don Lope.
In the original manuscript, don Lope's personality differs heavily from the published text: he is far more violent, emotional, and possessive.
[2] Tristana's transformation in the novel is heavily tied to language: the novel begins with her being mute for four chapters; she then finally speaks the word "libertad" (liberty), and then begins to construct a new reality for women and herself, by inventing gendered words for professions that were not in common use in the nineteenth century, such as "abogada" (female lawyer) and "médica" (female doctor).