When the curtain rises, a bevy of Norwegian Girls, among whom are Daland's daughter, Senta and her nurse Mary, are discovered turning their spinning wheels and singing a spinning song. A picture of the "Flying Dutchman" adorns the wall, and Senta, after singing a ballad sketching in incoherent, passionate strains, a story of the subject of the picture, solemnly vows that she will become the means of terminating the torment, to which the "Flying Dutchman" is subjected, and who can only be saved by a woman unwaveringly constant in her love. During the confusion which ensues upon this avowal, the father's arrival is announced. In the time intervening between this announcement and Daland's arrival, Erik, Senta's lover, pleads for his love, and endeavors to persuade Senta that her infatuation for a phantom lover will lead to her irretrievable ruin; but to no avail. Daland arrives and presents the "Flying Dutchman" to his daughter. Senta accepts him as her affianced husband.