After going off to the country to live together, Violetta begins to sell off her estate in the city to pay for their country arrangements. When Alfredo finds out, he vows to pay her back and leaves for the city, all without Violetta's knowledge. While Alfredo is away, his father pays Violetta a visit and convinces her to leave Alfredo so as not to disgrace his family. Violetta tells Alfredo that she is leaving him to go back to the Baron, and although it breaks her heart to do so, she walks out on him. At a party the next night, Alfredo disgraces Violetta in front of all of "high society", shocking even his father who scolds him for such behavior.
After some time, Violetta is seen on her deathbed for the entire time she had been dying of consumption. Violetta had received a letter from Alfredo's father, the Elder Germont, that apologized for his behavior, asked for her forgiveness, and said that Alfredo was on his way to see her. Violetta laments that he will arrive too late. Just as she is about to die, Alfredo arrives, and the couple sings about how Violetta will become well when they return to the country. She has a last great burst of energy when all seems as if it will get better, and she dies in her lover's arms.
The story of Marguerite Gautier in Camille parallels the story of Violetta with only a few minor differences. Throughout the movie, subtle hints are given as to the story's source. During important scenes in Camille, such as Marguerite's death scene, tunes from La Traviata are heard as the background music. Also references are made to the play Manon Lescaut many times; Armand, Alfredo's Camille counterpart, suggests near the beginning of the movie that Marguerite read the play. When Armand believes that Marguerite is being unfaithful, she receives a copy of the play from her servant, and the two have a discussion about the lovers in the story. A very pointed reference comes when Marguerite enters a party with the Baron, after she has left Armand, and he infers that the story is really about the two of them.
These last two conversations between Marguerite and Armand about the meaning of Manon Lescaut summarize the story rather well. At the time when Armand believes that Marguerite has been unfaithful, their conversation focuses around this characteristic of the play. Armand refers to Lescaut as "unscrupulous, faithless, a liar, and a cheat" and says that "[her lover] was no better than she, to share her heart with others." When Marguerite counters that "beggars can't be choosers," Armand replies with "then she shouldn't have chosen a poor man." This conversation can be seen to parallel Armand's feeling, at the time, that Marguerite had betrayed him. After Marguerite has left Armand and gone back to the Baron, the three have an encounter at a party at which Marguerite and the Baron have just arrived together. Marguerite says that they have just come from the theatre, having seen Manon Lescaut, and Armand bitterly reminds her that it is "the story of a man who loved a woman more than his honor and a woman who wanted luxury more than his heart."
The differences between La Traviata and Camille, although small, are worth mentioning. The first difference is in the titles. La Traviata is Italian for "the lost one" or "the fallen one". This phrase accurately describes Violetta. Camille, on the other hand, is from the Latin, camilla meaning a "virgin of unblemished character." This definition is not only contrary to that of La Traviata, but it opposes Marguerite's person and especially her "profession".
All of the other differences occur throughout the movie. Unlike Violetta who has only one really close friend, Marguerite also has one really close friend, but she also has two acquaintances who are very prevalent throughout the film, one is an older woman who is an incessant chatterbox and the other is a young woman who is very jealous of and competitive with Marguerite. After Armand approaches Marguerite with his profession of love, she gives him a key to her house and tells him to return that night. Violetta, on the other hand, tells Alfredo to return the next day, and when they sing about one another that night, they are unaware of the other's presence. When they move to the country, Marguerite stays in a cottage, and Armand stays in an inn separate from her. In La Traviata, Violetta and Alfredo live together in the cottage that they rent.
The final three differences deal with the leading lady's lover's father. In Camille, Armand's father is more harsh than the Elder Germont in La Traviata. When Alfredo disgraces Violetta in La Traviata, the Elder Germont is there to scold his son, but when Armand disgraces Marguerite in the same way, no way is there to reprimand him. Also at the end of La Traviata, the Elder Germont both writes his remorse in a letter and arrives with his son to pronounce this regret. It is never revealed whether Armand's father is sorry for the pain that he caused Marguerite.
Although there are slight differences in the two stories, they run almost exactly parallel. The strong influence that La Traviata had on Camille makes the film's story as wonderful as the opera's.