The story of the film centers on P.T. Barnum, the son of a tailor in 19th-century America, aspiring for a life that transcends poverty. After marrying his childhood sweetheart, Charity ...

When Barnum was fifteen, his father died, and his family was poor thereafter. At nineteen, with nothing else to lose, he ran away with his childhood best friend, Charity Hallett, who was a seamstress.