Irony, as a comic figure that expresses opposition, that is, a position contrary to what is known, or supposed to be known, can be a royal road to the unconscious in certain cases, in the analytic interpretation of melancholic patients or in the creative narratives of writers. The ironic composition of the central character of The Alienist, by Machado de Assis, is taken here as a literary expression of the mania to know.
Fundamental psychopathology; literature; mania; irony