- Before there's even a line of dialogue, we meet our hero Vindice… and he's carrying a skull. Wait, what? Carrying a skull? Yep. Welcome to revenge tragedy, folks, where skull-carrying happens all the time.
- Things don't get cheerier from here. Vindice is observing an important aristocratic family who controls the area he lives in. The family includes the Duke, the Duchess, the Duchess's son, Lussurioso, and the Duke's illegitimate son, Spurio. This is like the intro shot of a movie where the camera pans across faces, showing you some of the key characters without explaining too much about who they are.
- When the dialogue starts, it's more like those scenes where the narrator tells you about all the characters as they appear, to the annoyance of film students. In this case we learn more than we might like to. Vindice is disgusted with the Duke's whole family—he says they're all profoundly lustful (sex outside of marriage is widely considered a sin at this time).
- Next, Vindice starts talking to the skull (why not?). He says it is a pale picture of his poisoned love. This sounds like bad news. He describes the beauty of his dead girlfriend, and then we find out why she died—and why Vindice dislikes the Duke's family so much.
- Turns out, the old Duke poisoned Vindice's fiancée because she wouldn't sleep with him. Yikes.
- Vindice is planning to exact revenge against the Duke but doesn't seem to know how or when he'll be able to do it.
- Vindice's brother Hippolito comes in, and we find out that he actually serves at the court of the old Duke. Not only that, but the Duke's son has slyly asked Hippolito to hire someone up to no good. It's not clear exactly what this shady character would be doing, but Hippolito is convinced the Duke's son wants to hire a pander, someone who serves as a messenger between the parties in an illicit sexual relationship.
- Vindice says this is no surprise, since the Duke's son lusts after every face he sees; Hippolito agrees.
- Vindice decides that he will pretend to be a man up to no good in order to be hired for this job (whatever it is) by the Duke's son, in hopes that this will give him a chance to get close enough to the court to achieve revenge. His brother agrees to recommend him for the job.
- Vindice and Hippolito see their mother and sister, Castiza, coming, and decide to hide their plans from the women in their family. Gender equality isn't their strong suit.
- The ladies inquire about what's happening at court. Hippolito says there's a rumor going around that the duchess's youngest son has raped a married woman. Their mother is shocked, noting that the lady is very religious, and Castiza says that the rapist deserves to die. Vindice praises her judgment.
- Vindice and Hippolito say their farewells, without telling the women Vindice's plan to disguise himself as a baddie and go to court for revenge. We learn that Vindice's father is dead, and that he was a worthy man whom the Duke treated badly, probably by refusing to give him appropriate social recognition. Gosh, is there any bad thing the Duke hasn't done to their family?
- Vindice and Hippolito head out toward court, with Vindice planning to "turn into another" (1.1.149), i.e. take on a disguise.