Abstract
In his paper, the author analyses Havlíček?s most famous novel, Neviditelný, through the prism of the problem of vision. Th e fi rst part is a hermeneutical analysis of the ?architectonics of power? in Havlíček?s novel, the second part is concerned with the interpretation of Havlíček?s text using the Platonic myth of Gyges, and the third part off ers a more general refl exion on the role of vision and non-vision in the novel in question, including the opposition between reason and madness which serves as a basic structural device in the narrative.