Jake La Motta is a boxer whose psychological and sexual complexities erupt into violence both in and out of the ring. His brother, Joey, falls prey to Jake's mounting paranoia and jealousy, and fifteen-year-old Vickie, becomes Jake's most prized trophy. The same anger that drives Jake in the ring, ultimately drives him to beat his wife and brother, and sends Jake down a self-destructive spiral of paranoia and rage.

This satire of Victorian society shows the trials and tribulations of young love, the pettiness of upper class life, the raw energy and excitement of the most powerful city the world had ever seen, and the greed and corruption that lay just below its glittering surface.