The film is composed of five discrete sections, with each preceded by a title and quote. Section one: a mime of Heinrich von Kleist's 'Penthesilea' in long shot. Section two: an explanation of the previous section and a guide to the intentions of the film, both delivered by Peter Wollen from cards. Section three: a variety of images relating to Penthesilea, including paintings, comics, statues and tapestries. Section four a woman reads the words of feminist, Jesse Ashley; the woman's face is superimposed over footage from What 80 Million Women Want, an American fiction film from 1913 about women's suffrage. Section five: four black and white monitors present the four previous sections of the film, with previously unseen footage of the woman playing Penthesilea in the mime. She takes off her make-up and addresses the camera.