When four suitors arrive to ask for the hands of Signor Di Lirio's three lovely daughters, the old gentleman agrees that the girls should marry ... as long as they have the approval of their mother. The problem is, his wife died three years ago, and he has gone so mad with grief that he still believes she is alive. However, one of the suitors is the town scoundrel, Giovio, who plays a series of kind-hearted but hilarious tricks that bring the father back to sanity and the intended couples together, while winning the heart of his love over his rival.