Act One opens on an early Puritan settlement as the minister, Wrestling Bradford, emerges from the church after a service full of fire and brimstone. Staying on after the sermon, Praise-God Tewke confides that his daughter, Plentiful, is enamored with the minister. Bradford confides that he has been plagued by erotic, demonic dreams, and reconsiders his celibacy. When Plentiful appears, he asks her to marry him that very day; left alone with her, however, his aggressively sensual advances frighten her. The scene is interrupted by the arrival of a group of children, who engage in games and catechisms. A newcomer, Jack Prence, soon appears, as well. Having recently arrived as part of a non-Puritan group from England, Prence notes to the gathering villagers that it is time to celebrate the maypole dance. Appalled, the settlers tie him to the whipping post. The elegant Lady Marigold Sandys' entreaties on behalf of Prence incite a battle between the Puritan villagers and the less pious newcomers, the Cavaliers, who claim the authority of the Crown. A truce is called, aided by Bradford, who now is enamored with and seeks to please Lady Marigold (and has become cruelly disdainful of Plentiful); when Marigold rejects Bradford for the handsome Sir Gower, however, the minister withdraws the truce and calls the Puritans to battle.

Act Two begins at the maypole, where the Cavaliers have donned festive costumes and have begun a splendid celebration with wine, food, and dancing around the maypole. Lady Marigold and Sir Gower arrive, ready to be married by Parson Scrooby. The ceremony is interrupted, however, by the arrival of Bradford and the Puritans, who fall upon and scatter the weaponless Cavaliers and destroy the trappings of their festivities. Two Puritans drag Marigold into the woods, leaving her with Bradford to be "saved." He proclaims his love, but when she soundly rejects him he threatens her life. Gower arrives to aid her, but Tewke and other Puritans also appear; the ensuing conflict leaves him dead in her arms. Tewke commands the men to imprison her in the village, then, surveying the carnage, castigates Bradford. Exhausted and left alone, the minister falls into a deep sleep; in his dream he sees a fiery vision of the apocalypse and hell, and, tempted by a demonic seductress with Marigold's face, renounces his faith, curses his congregation, and vows allegiance to Lucifer.

Act Three opens as Bradford awakens from his dream to find a frightened Plentiful at his side. To her horror, he tells her of his dream. Meanwhile, the village has become a literal inferno: with the Puritans away, the Indians have attacked the settlement and set the church aflame. The Puritans see God's hand in the destruction, and blame Marigold as a witch. Just as they are about to stone her, however, Bradford removes his cap to reveal the mark of the Beast on his forehead. With a Satanic invocation, he takes Marigold in his arms and, bringing his vision to life, disappears into the flames.

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