Donna di rispetto is a film set in a little mountainous village surrounded by the Alburni Mountains in the early years after the war.
The story revolves around Maria, a young wife and mother that lives in one of the farm houses in the village. Her quiet, tranquil family life is shattered by the killing of her husband and son at the hands of Baron Vittorio Caracciolo, who manages the farmlands of the village along with the Church.
Maria avenges the death of her loved ones by killing the noble man with her own hands.
Her life completely changes after this incident: she ends up in prison and does her time, leaving her two young children with a neighbour who in turn looks after them and brings them up like her own.
Once she gets out of prison and returns to her village, she finds her two children all grown up. The eldest had graduated with a diploma from the Institute of Agricultural Science and the youngest almost a priest. She is welcomed and treated with a new found respect by the other villagers for getting rid of the tyrant landlord and having the courage to avenge the killing of her husband and son.
With time Maria and her eldest son opens a greengrocer’s, hiring and creating jobs for the other villagers. The same son goes on to become the mayor of the town and her youngest son become the Vicar of the parish.