INTRODUCTION The Alienist, a classic, whose work portrays a story that comes from Realism, a new literary period that is set in the mid-1880s, nineteenth century. Noteworthy is the ironic Machado de Assis criticism of bourgeois society of that time, which is remarkable concealment of the individual who thinks only of his own fascination, being the protagonist, Dr. Simon Gurnard, a doctor who won respect in Europe exerting their profession and decides to return to Itaguai, his homeland, aiming to devote himself to the profession, followed by a listless marriage to D. Evarista, intending to study the boundary between reason and madness. The doctor regarded manages funds of the City Council to establish the known madhouse "Green House". They keep current the sense of the author 's criticism, from the moment we perceive the attitudes of society, finding …show more content…
It is known that at each stage of literature is inserted a cargo of historical context that influences directly, and it would be no different in Machado 's tale of Assisi. Despite being created with fictitious character, the author alludes to the historical moment of the nineteenth century, in which the Industrial Revolution and French contributed to scientific advancement that was in evidence on the European continent. The protagonist of the story - Simon Blunderbuss - takes to learn the European knowledge, and brings to Brazil in order to deepen and be based in the city of Itaguai source of new research and devising new theories, creating the "Orates House" - called for the people of the region "Green House" - as supportive of this process. It is in this part of the tale that is evident the power of current positivist thought. In the words of "[...] positivism consists [...] a philosophy and a policy which are necessarily inseparable" (Comte apud COSTA, 1959,