The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

A man recognizes the thief who had previously robbed him as one of the men involved in an unrelated mob shootout.

Two young girls are sent away to live with their uncle, which sets off a chain of events resulting in an Indian attack on the town.

After the relatively low box office takings of 'Intolerance', D. W. Griffith would revisit his epic film three years later by releasing two of the film's interlocking stories as standalone features, with some new additional footage. The first of the two was 'The Fall of Babylon', which depicts the conflict between Prince Belshazzar of Babylon and Cyrus the Great of Persia.

The brothers choose between love and gold. The three brothers sought the gold regions. The fourth chose to be a stay-at-home. He sought just love, and love was his reward: in the happiness of two old parents and the heart of a sweet girl. But those in the gold regions, each for himself, seeking just gold, found their ill rewards in the sordid earth of the Bad Lands.

A tramp overhears a rancher's plans to go to town for the ranch's payroll. He tries to enlist another loafer (the Knight) to help with a robbery. Instead, the Knight helps thwart the robbery.

In this story set at a seaside fishing village and inspired by a Charles Kingsley poem, a young couple's happy life is turned about by an accident. The husband, although saved from drowning, loses his memory. A child is on the way, and soon a daughter is born to his wife. We watch the passage of time, as his daughter matures and his wife ages. The daughter becomes a lovely young woman, herself ready for marriage. One day on the beach, the familiarity of the sea and the surroundings triggers a return of her father's memory, and we are reminded that although people age and change, the sea and the ways of the fisherfolk remain eternal.

A young woman's peaceful existence is shattered when she is abducted by the crew of a boat of smugglers, who then also turn against their captain.

The story of the massacre of an Indian village, and the ensuing retaliation.

A blind princess is informed that her sight can be restored by the first kiss of unselfish love she receives. She remains blind until a humble poet steals a kiss.

Two sisters, Nellie and Florence, support themselves and their mother by sewing. A man accompanying a wealthy client tempts first Nellie and then Florence to leave with him. Nellie rejects him, but Florence goes to his decadent apartment and becomes his mistress. Nellie marries a diligent carpenter and raises a growing family. Eventually the Tempter tosses Florence out, and she dies alone and impoverished.

To fulfill a dying mother's bequest for her daughter, the town pastor purchases the daughter a stylish hat, and gossip spreads through the town.

An abusive father and husband attends a play one night and sees that the "villain" in the piece does to his family exactly what he is doing to his own family.

Marta asks her husband Jose to buy her a new dress she saw at the market. On his way home, he goes with a friend to a saloon and drunkenly gives the dress to a barmaid. At home Jose tells his wife he lost the dress. She retraces his steps and finds the barmaid modeling her new dress. Faced with the truth, she goes mad.

Jose becomes engaged to Pepita, but still has eyes for Mariana. He runs off with Mariana, but he is accidentally blinded, and she deserts him. Pepita discovers him wandering blindly, and forgives him.

A wealthy, callous moneylender finds a terrifying way to learn about money's limitations.

A young maiden is seduced by a charming traveling peddler who persuades her to steal from her host family in order to repay his gambling debts.

A Confederate officer is called off to war. He leaves his wife and daughter in the care of George, his faithful Negro servant. After the officer is killed in battle, George continues in his caring duties, faithful to his trust.

A young woman is quite taken with a man she met; in fact, he is her “ideal”. However, after her new suitor refuses to get mixed up in a street brawl, the young woman views him as a coward. Nearby, a violent convict has escaped from prison. While the couple takes a ride in the woman’s automobile, the criminal ambushes a guard, taking the officer’s clothing and gun. The young woman still argues her suitor is a coward, drops him off, and drives off alone. She is then carjacked by the on-the-lam criminal. The young man witnesses the ambush and sets out to rescue his lover.

When the double wedding takes two daughters away from the old man at once, the youngest, now the only one left, in outraged spirit promises never to leave her father, but soon she too is departing for a new home. Then comes a cold hard fact of life. The son-in-law claims his right to make a home alone for his wife. In his bitterness and anger, the father denies them both the house. Several years later the lonely old man meets at the gate a babe in arms. When he learns whose baby it is, heart hunger craves another sight, and sought, brings with it the only natural result.