A Harlot High and Low is the story of Lucien de Rubempr -Handsome, budding poet Lucien Chardon- and his love affair with the beautiful Esther van Gobseck. Lucien's Faust-like damnation is the consequence of a corrupt and decadent society which feeds on intrigue and loose morals. The novel depicts a vast panorama of the different strata of the French society where unsavory characters populate the criminal underworld, as well as the middle and upper classes. When Vautrin -the nefarious puppet master- realizes that wealthy Baron de Nucingen is pitifully infatuated with Esther, he conspires to help Lucien to achieve success in the Parisian society at the expense of the old Baron. Instead, a series of tragic events trump Lucien's ambition.