Martin Eden is an idealistic and self-educated young man who struggles to overcome poverty and a lack of opportunities in a quest to become an educated and successful artist. He hopes to find acceptance in the world of the wealthy and refined, though he finds it hard to shake off his coarse working-class background. Eden falls in love with Ruth Morse, but he feels that he is not good enough to win her hand, as she comes from a bourgeois family. Eden hopes that she will wait for him while he seeks to establish himself as a successful writer and improve his social status so that he may one day feel worthy of his true love. The novel is heartbreaking, tragic, and rich with the themes of class struggle and prejudice.