Ambição

Intrigues and mystery involve the murder of Vitor, a member of an important family, just when he was trying to save his economic empire from bankruptcy. In court, a beautiful woman becomes the center of the entire plot.

The soap opera's central theme is life after death, inspired by the philosophy of Allan Kardec, the codifier of Spiritism. The character who drives the plot is Alexandre, a delinquent who kills himself in prison after being convicted of robbery followed by homicide and goes on to torment the lives of all those he considers responsible for his tragic fate.

After getting lost on a sea excursion, Jô Penteado and Fábio Coutinho develop mutual feelings during the two months they spend stranded on a deserted island.

César, a sugar mill owner in Pernambuco, lives in Rio de Janeiro with his wife Maria Luiza and daughters, Débora and Suzy. One day, tired of his life, he decides to fake his own death and assume another identity. César does this with the help of França, the financial director of the sugar mill – which also belongs to Alaor. César and França stage a car accident, plunging off Avenida Niemeyer in Rio and disappearing into the sea. César leaves Alaor on the verge of bankruptcy and Maria Luiza and the two girls in poverty, completely transforming their lives.

The irreverent Dulcinéa struggles to keep her revue theater, *Mambembe*, afloat; the building itself belongs to the traditional Maldonado family. The patriarch, Salvador Maldonado—a conservative man—keeps a tight rein on the clan, maintaining control over both the business and his children: Joana, an elegant and snobbish woman who is the staunchest defender of the views held by Pops, as the children call him; Téo, who has always silently submitted to the old man's high-handedness; Walter, dominated by his older sister and his father's favorite; and Lalucha, the youngest, a film student who challenges the status quo and rebels against the family's stuffy conservatism.

Twin sisters with contrasting personalities, Ruth and Raquel, rival in the fictional Pontal D'Areia, on the coast of Rio de Janeiro.