After a bleak childhood, Jane Eyre goes out into the world to become a governess. As she lives happily in her new position at Thornfield Hall, she meet the dark, cold, and abrupt master of the house, Mr. Rochester. Jane and her employer grow close in friendship and she soon finds herself falling in love with him. Happiness seems to have found Jane at last, but could Mr. Rochester's terrible secret be about to destroy it forever?
Adventuress Becky Sharp lives by her wits and charm in an effort to ascend from humble backgrounds into society. She fails to lure Joseph Sedley, the brother of her chum Amelia, into marriage but succeeds with Rawdon Crawley, the son of her employer. However, his family's displeasure keeps Becky from living in wealth, as she had hoped to do. Ever the flirt, Becky has affairs with George Osborne soon after he marries Amelia and with Lord Steyne while Rawdon is away at war with Napoleon. Her adventures come to an end, however; neither Rawdon nor Steyne will have her, and Becky is reduced to touring the Continent under an assumed name. Her lesson learned, Becky brings together Amelia and her faithful suitor, Captain Dobbin, after George is killed in battle; and finally she returns to London to live a quiet life. A lost film.
Coming to the U.S. from his native land to study Western civilization and continue work for his government young Chinaman Tsing Yu-Ch'ing attends an American university, then launches a Chinese newspaper in New York City. He also falls in love with the lovely Kathleen Levinsky who is blind. The daughter of a Jewish father and an Irish mother. Kathleen's life is barren of love, and she gladly accepts his attentions. When Dr. Hardwick, a classmate from college, calls on Tsing and meets Kathleen, he offers to cure her blindness through surgery. The operation is a success, but the newly sighted Kathleen is visibly upset by Tsing's appearance. After saving Kathleen from a killer known as the Hatchetman, Tsing returns to China and commits suicide, believing he will find eternal love with her in the afterlife.
