A poor man from the North Zone of Rio, head of a family, Roy struggles in every way to survive and accepts a job as a professional laugher on a TV station; Casimiro de Abreu de Sousa lives in a fantasy world in which he imagines himself to be part of high society. His daughter's wedding awakens in Casimiro the desire to achieve everything he has always fantasized about.
Tristão dos Prazeres is a television consultor who is very popular amongst married women. In his show, he defends his theory that jealousy is a small feeling, a "termite" that destroys relationships. However, once he suspects his wife to be cheating on him, he gets enraged and sends his butler to investigate.