Esmeralda: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Rodolfo Peñareal is obsessed with having a male child. After many miscarriages, his wife Blanca is pregnant again. One night, a girl is born, but they believe that she was born dead. In the same town, in another, more humble house, a boy is born, but his mother dies during labor. The midwife and the nanny of Blanca, with their best intention and with the aim to calm down Rodolfo, decide to exchange the children. Blanca puts a pair of emerald earrings on her supposedly dead baby so that she is buried with them. Once the exchange is done, the midwife Dominga, discovers that the girl is not dead, but now it is too late to right the wrong. In this way, the boy that was born in a miserable hut sees his first light in the opulence of a big house, while the sweet little girl who was entitled to a golden crib, gives her first steps among ramshackle walls and misery. Esmeralda, the Peñareal's baby girl, was born blind, but the kindness of her heart provides her the light to be happy and the illusion to believe that someday she will meet love. Her eyes are the "eyes of love". Time passes and the destiny of both of the children, Esmeralda and José Armando, comes across as they instantly fall in love. However, the obsession, the wish, the family interests, the false love of a woman and the Peñareal's pride to make their lineage prevail, destroy any noble feeling. Esmeralda and José Armando are the victims in this sea of resentment that, little by little, submerges them into the darkness of indifference.

Series details

• Title: Esmeralda
• Format: Scripted
• Language: Spanish
• Genres: Drama, Romance
• Premiere date: 1997-05-05
• Final broadcast date listed: 1997-11-28
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: Las Estrellas
• Network country: Mexico
• Typical episode runtime: 40 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 42034
• IMDb ID: tt0211802
• TVDB ID: 150501

Cast and credited roles

• Leticia Calderón — Esmeralda Rosales-Peñarreal
• Fernando Colunga — José Armando Peñarreal De Velasco
• Enrique Lizalde — Don Rodolfo Peñarreal
• Laura Zapata — Fátima Linares Viuda de Peñarreal
• Salvador Pineda — Dr. Lucio Malaver
• Ignacio López Tarso — Melesio

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1997-05-05; final listed air date 1997-11-28; episode order: 137.

Source and licence

Adapted from Esmeralda on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.