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.