Ernesto, his nephew and heir, wants to marry Norina, a lovely but penniless young widow. Don Pasquale is having none of it and resolves to take a wife, produce an heir, and disinherit his nephew. That will show him! He tells Dr. Malatesta, who takes the young couple’s side and cooks up a scheme to fool the Don. Norina is enlisted to play the bride, who will be the doctor’s imaginary sister and Pasquale’s demure dream girl. Ernesto, unaware of what’s going on, believes his love is lost, while Don Pasquale’s supposedly supine and obedient bride steps away from the altar transformed into a pushy “shrew” with Dom Perignon tastes. The Don has no one to blame but himself—the joke, it turns out, is on him.