Marlene Figueiró

Set in 19th-century Brazil during the waning years of slavery, Escrava Isaura tells the story of Isaura, a white-skinned enslaved woman raised with the manners and education of a noble lady. Though treated with affection by her mistress, Isaura remains legally enslaved and becomes the object of obsessive desire by Leôncio Almeida, the cruel heir to the plantation. After the death of her protector, Isaura falls under Leôncio’s control. Despite his attempts to seduce and dominate her, she resists, determined to preserve her dignity and freedom. Her father, Miguel, helps her escape to Recife, where she adopts a new identity and meets Álvaro, a wealthy and principled abolitionist who falls in love with her. Leôncio eventually tracks her down, leading to dramatic confrontations. In the end, Álvaro rescues Isaura by purchasing Leôncio’s debts, securing her freedom and affirming the story’s central themes of justice, love, and resistance against oppression.

The soap opera critiques the power struggles among rural politicians in the 1920s. Joaquim is shocked when a doctor reveals that his son, Luís Jerônimo, has a lung lesion. To recover his health, the young man leaves Rio de Janeiro for Colonel Boanerges's farm in Vila da Mata, Espírito Santo. There, he meets Zuca, and the two fall in love. Zuca is the colonel's goddaughter and the fiancée of the fearless cowboy Tobias, who refuses to accept the possibility of losing her to the outsider. Zuca and Luís Jerônimo face numerous obstacles in pursuing their love. Their romance is also threatened by the arrival of Pepa in Vila da Mata; having been in love with Luís Jerônimo back when he lived in Rio, she tries by every means possible to drive the couple apart.

A hardworking market vendor, Mrs. Xepa faces many sacrifices to raise her children alone. However, as they achieve social advancement, they begin to feel ashamed of their mother.

A small-town school teacher leads an apparently normal life, including a longtime boyfriend. But she secretly has several lesbian affairs until the women in her life start being brutally murdered.