A proje？？o especular de uma nova teoria da alma humana

in the tradition of machadian studies, the short story "o espelho" tends to be analysed in a critical perspective that legitimizes the supposed seriousness of the arbitrary speech of the narrator-character jacobina. from this point of view, the narrative is understood according to philosophical, existential and psychological standards, and the extravagant metaphysical theories of jacobina are considered as a valid and authentic demonstration of the human essence. trying to overcome these interpretative distortions, this paper proposes a redefinition of critical perspectives in order to give priority to the analysis of structural procedures that mobilize a strategic irony with the aim of disqualifying this narrator-character and satirizing the content of his metaphysical investigations.