The water nymph Rusalka becomes human because she has fallen in love with the prince. But the stakes are high: she has been struck dumb, and she must win the unconditional devotion of her beloved. The prince returns her love, but her cool manner alienates him. Soon he turns to another woman. The consequences are devastating - Antonín Dvorák’s opera presents a world in which nature and artificiality, dream and reality, and love and passion are irreconcilably opposed.