Mary Holmes, once a renowned opera star named Maria di Nardi, now lives as an eccentric alcoholic in a run-down shanty. Known in her community as "The Goose Woman" because she breeds geese, Mary resents her grown son Geoffrey, whose birth she blames for the deterioration of her singing voice, and shows him no motherly affection. When Geoffrey, a promising commercial artist, tells Mary about his engagement to local actress Joan Hoyt, however, Mary reacts with jealous resentment and announces her intention to reveal Geoffrey's illegitimate birth to Joan. Although terrified that Joan will reject him, Geoffrey breaks the news of his birth to her himself. To Geoffrey's relief, Joan, who has just ended an affair with womanizer G. K. Ethridge, the local theatrical backer, calmly accepts her fiancé's illegitimacy and pushes ahead with the marriage plans. Soon after Geoffrey breaks ties with the still angry Mary and heads for Chicago on an assignment, Jacob Riggs, the doorman at Ethridge's theater, confronts Ethridge on his estate, which borders Mary's shanty. Enraged by Ethridge's repeated seduction of innocent women, Jacob shoots and kills his employer, who is waiting for a final rendezvous with Joan. Mary hears the shots through her window, and anxious for publicity and recognition as Maria di Nardi, she fabricates a story about the murder for police and reporters, unaware that her statements implicate Geoffrey in the crime. Based on Mary's drunken testimony, Geoffrey, who is unaware of his mother's misguided accusations, is indicted on circumstantial evidence by a grand jury. Although Mary denies her previous testimony when she sees that Geoffrey is the defendant, Geoffrey is found guilty and is condemned to die. Determined to free her son, a reformed Mary overwhelms Jacob as he tries to dispose of the murder weapon near her shanty, and with Joan's help, brings the doorman to justice. Once Geoffrey is cleared, Mary burns down her shanty and with it, her past, and prepares for a new life with her son and daughter-in-law.