Doppelgänger

there is an extremely small chance that someone looks exactly like you. The German term for “double goer,” a doppelganger is someone who looks exactly like you, and they don’t always have a positive influence on their counterpart. Though the topic of doppelgangers has been debated for many years, people haven’t exactly found out the chances of finding your exact doppelganger. There has been much superstition surrounding the topic, and there are many theories about why people look like each other. Though there’s much superstition and debate on the topic of doppelgangers, there is only a miniscule chance that two humans look exactly alike, though they may…

Doppelganger. Noun. A ghostly double or counterpart of a living person. The double may not be nearly as obvious in normal society as one person having two completely different appearances, but some people may lead a ‘double life’ which is the same concept. Someone could have two very distinct personalities that almost form two people that are incredibly different. This concept of a doppelganger is very prevalent in life and more importantly in literature. Doppelgangers are especially seen in…

they happen. Déjà vu, dreaming, and even any paranormal activity, we dismiss as either impossible or so much part of our daily lives that they don’t even matter. But how do we know for sure that none of these occurrences actually affect our daily lives? Some of the paranormal phenomenon that we usually brush off may actually play a huge part in our lives, without us knowing. Doppelgangers, a concept that doesn’t even cross most people’s minds, may actually be very much prevalent in our world…

Doppelgänger is used intensively in German film of the early 20th century to represent cinematic themes throughout particular movies, usually in the form of reflection, shadows and impersonation of different characters. In the cases of The Student of Prague and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, this cinematic technique is used throughout these films to link two or more images of the main character to illustrate a larger idea of film making history in Germany. In The Student of Prague, doppelgänger…

shop for a quick espresso pick-me-up. The barista takes your order, spells your name wrong, again, and hands you the double-chai-espresso vanilla latte you ordered. As you turn around to trek back to the office, you hear the bell above the door jingle, alerting employees that a new customer has arrived. Looking up, you catch a glimpse of the newest coffee consumer: it’s you. Or at least it looks like you. Nearly an exact mirror reflection, the person walking towards the counter seems to…

The doppelganger, the double or counterpart of a living person, is often an important element of a gothic novel. While one may consider a doppelganger a twin of sorts, it can also be seen as an opposite or as a complement to the individual, by possessing different qualities. The novel Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley, portrays a monster, Adam, as the evil side to Victor Frankenstein’s character. Although the creature is the obvious double of his creator, he does not…

2. The Doppelgänger in Gothic Fiction The term “doppelgänger” comes from German and can literally translated as “double-goer” (Strengell ....: n. pag.). According to The New International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language, it is defined as either a “person exactly like another; a double” or a “wraith, especially of a person not yet dead” (1999: 378). The idea of the phantom double is an ancient belief included in various superstitions and folklore. Therefore, in the…

The novel Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, has been recognized on many different levels for the literary feats it reaches and the ways that it challenged the ideals of its time. One of the most recognizable methods used by Bronte in the novel would be her use of “doppelgangers” to show the connections between characters. A doppelganger is someone who is connected to someone else but may serve as a complete opposite to this person, especially in a literary work. Charlotte Bronte uses…

Discuss the purpose of a doppelganger: “W.S” By L.P. Hartley “W.S” is a story about a novelist who started receiving mysterious postcards by someone who always signed off as W.S. The postcards showed that W.S. had insight and understood facts about Walter Streeter’s life and his work as an author. Reflecting on “W.S.” it becomes clear that W.S is Walter Streeter’s doppelganger. The purpose of a doppelganger in this text is to highlight what it was Walter didn’t like and to elevate himself by…

It could be said that Mary Shelley’s writing was very advanced for her time, especially since she spoke about science fiction before it was a major genre. Shelley also spoke about Romanticism in Frankenstein. Her novel explored the suicide and doppelganger motifs. Although Frankenstein was one of the last Romantic works, it was also one of the first science fiction novels. Her success of Frankenstein may be due to her having drawn inspiration from her life. To this day, Shelley’s Frankenstein…