The film's theme of immurement draws inspiration from Balzac's "La Grande Bretêche",<ref name="Gunning">Gunning, 1994, pp. 177-178</ref> and Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado". The king constructs a cozy, windowless love-nest for himself and his concubine. However, she is not faithful to her sovereign, but consorts with the court troubadour. In fact, they use the king's new play chamber for their trysts. When the king discovers this, he sends for his masons. With the faithless duo still inside, the masons use stone and mortar to quietly seal the only door to the vault. The two lovers suffocate and the film ends.