Just before the young Anna is getting married to the lighthouse keeper Holmstrand, she meets the Norwegian sailor John. He falls in love with her, but leaves her when he is told she is engaged.
Lena Bergström works in an office and is unhappily in love with her boss, Johan Borg. She decides to quit. Borg's wife won't have any children, and when she becomes pregnant she has an illegal abortion. For some reason, Lena's father believes that it is Lena who has had an abortion.
Arvid share the love with a young woman named Lydia, but as is customary at the turn of the century, is not love enough for a fairy tale to come true. While Arvid struggling to create the basis for their existence, Lydia's thirst for the good life leads her to marrying an older wealthy man.
