Yerma, whose name means barren land, is married to Juan and yearns for children, solely from her husband. Juan cannot, he lacks the passion to do so. Victor, who could fulfill this desire, does not belong to her. Her husband, consumed by suspicions about her, invites his sisters to his home to keep an eye on her.

In her anguish, Yerma descends into hysteria. One night in a monastery of a fertility saint, in her last hope, she encounters Juan who has hidden and overheard the dialogue between his wife and an old woman who reveals to her that the fault lies with her husband.

When he, at the brink of cynicism, confesses to her that he feels better without children, she explodes and strangles him. The betrayed love, the betrayed nature, the unfulfilled desire for motherhood. Seeing in Juan only the child that does not come, she kills him, thereby killing the possibility for it as well.

[Excerpt from a publisher's or edition's presentation text]