The opera opens with a prologue in which we learn that the play is set in Paris, outside of the city, during a party at which Elizabeth Bathory is not in a good mood. In the prologue, we are told that the party is being held outside of Paris, during which time Elizabeth is not at her best. The narrator tells us that he is having a party, and that he will be talking about "busi ness" . He says that snake should never have mad faith in his witchcraft . The opera ends with a soliloquy in which the narrator says that he has come to Rome to visit Cardinal Lacroix, who has been imprisoned in the Cataclysm. He asks the Cardinal to give him access to the prison, and the Cardinal agrees.