A man approaching his thirties works as a weaver for an old man with whom he has lived since the age of fourteen. His host mistreats him and the young man having complained about this outside, the old man slaps him and overwhelms him with reproaches. Unable to bear it any longer, the weaver thinks of killing him in his sleep.

M. Jourdain is a cloth merchant who wants to become a gentleman, learning dance, music, fencing and philosophy. Mme Jourdain is worried about Dorante's expenses and prefers her daughter Lucile to marry Cléonte. The two young men's servants use subterfuge to get M. Jourdain to accept Cléonte as son-in-law. They fake the arrival of the Grand Turk's son in Paris, and, in an Oriental ballet, confer upon M. Jourdain the title of Mammamouchi, his daughter marrying the son of the Grand Turk, who is none other than Cléonte in disguise.