A storm has driven a ship belonging to Daland into a remote cove. The ship-owner encounters a curious stranger who roams the world. He offers Daland vast treasures to take him in for just one night. Daland is all the happier to oblige when this seemingly fabulously rich seafarer asks for his daughter Senta’s hand in marriage.

Senta causes a commotion in her father’s house by singing the poignantly spine-chilling ballad about the Flying Dutchman. She is convinced that it is a true story, and that she has been chosen to save the unhappy man from his fate.
The hunter Erik, who is in love with Senta, reproaches her for her infatuation. He is worried that her father intends to marry her off soon, and unsuccessfully asks her to agree to intercede with Daland on his behalf.
Daland arrives with the unknown seafarer, in whom Senta immediately recognises the man whose redemption she has made her purpose in life. The two soon become close, and Senta swears eternal fidelity to the Dutchman. Daland already sees the profitable marriage within reach.

As the sailors celebrate the happy return of the merchant vessel, their high spirits provoke destructive forces that fill them with terror.
Erik once again attempts to win Senta over by reminding her that she once swore eternal fidelity to him. The Dutchman has overheard the conversation and realises that the condition of his redemption is impossible to fulfil. Senta seals her oath of fidelity by taking her own life.