In mid-nineteenth century Guanajuato, the beauty and charm of the young heiress Amalia conquers the lowly foreman Ricardo with fatal results. Prevented from consummating their love, Ricardo is going to Guanajuato where again later become the rich owner of a mine. On his return, fate has prepared a tragic encounter with Amalia.
A young woman, abandoned by her womanizing fiancé, is forced to provide for the upbringing of her son and combat the difficulties of being an unmarried mother during the strife of early 20-century Mexico.
A homeless orphan girl is adopted by a wealthy man against his wife wishes. When the man dies, the girl endures endless humiliations under the wife's harsh grip, so she finds solace with mysterious old maid who lives near by.
After being caught embezzling from his clinic to impress his high society lover and support his gambling habit, a doctor flees to a remote Indian village to volunteer as a humanitarian aid worker. There he tries to mitigate the onslaught of a strange disease called "Amok," while his past continues to haunt him.
A 17th century woman, imprisoned for fighting in a bar, recounts her past to a priest. She tells of her father teaching her how to fence, of being sent to a convent by her aunt when her father died, of escaping by dressing as a man, and of her life as a man following the escape.
The disaffected wife of a failed civil servant, is thrilled to re-encounter Octavio, a former lover who is now a union activist on the run from a corrupt politician. Hoping to help him, she descends into the Mexican underworld, where she finds a purpose-and a thrill-missing from her married life.