The Gilded Cage is a simple tale about two sisters: the pampered favorite and the put-upon, younger stepdaughter, played by Stonehouse. When the elder spurns her lover to marry wealth, she learns the error of her ways.

Gilbert and Lawrence Carthage are in love with Peggy Lorraine. George Duncan, a wealthy and unscrupulous bachelor, insults Peggy in Gilbert's presence. Being timid and retiring, he does nothing.