'O Alienista' Summary

The Psychiatrist is a tragicomic literary piece on madness, scientism and power. It follows the scientific efforts of Dr. Simão Bacamarte, a prominent Portuguese physician whose obsession for discovering a universal method to treat and consequently cure mental disturbs drives the inhabitants of the small town of Itaguaí to fear, conspiracy and revolutionary attempts. In a short space of time, Bacamarte's madhouse passes to take inside of its walls not only mentally ill patients but also healthy citizens who, according to the doctor's diagnoses, are about to develop some sort of mental illness. The Psychiatrist stands out as a highly ironic critic to the arbitrary of Scientism and its influence on cultural and political matters.