William Wilson Duality Essay

Meanwhile, Poe illustrates the complex ways in which William Wilson is capable of duality through the use of the literary element doppelganger. Similar to Brown, the narrator William Wilson also attempts to repress his dual self. The narrator believes he represents the evil, unstable, and unaccepting aspects of human nature savoring the fact that he, “was left to the guidance of my own will, and became, in all but name, the master of my own actions” (668). Taking pride in his lack of morality, the narrator creates a flawed world in which he is only one dimensional in nature. Nevertheless, the narrator also shares doubt and remorse for his actions which is evident by his need to seek redemption before his death, “Steeped in misery as I am – misery, …show more content…
Nevertheless, as the extremes of the narrator’s personality surface with each wrongdoing, his doppelganger grows stronger in response to the rising guilt. Later, certain aspects of the story suggest that the doppelganger may not be an entirely well-intentioned figure. For example, although the narrator is hereditarily prone to moral weakness, the constant presence of his double does not have the effect of mitigating the narrator's temperament. Instead, it gives the narrator his first lesson in what it means to “partook very much of positive hatred” (673). In the same way that the narrator sins yet feels guilt, the doppelganger instills remorse and frenzy. Hence, the more the narrator resists his doppelganger, the more guilt-ridden he becomes. Likewise, the more the doppelganger attempts to ramify wrongdoings, the more eerie he becomes. In this way, both William Wilsons represent the extremities of duality. Although Poe uses a physical manifestation to demonstrate duality in contrast to Hawthorne’s use of absence, from both methods we get a powerful demonstration of the many ways in which mankind fails to recognize