Doppelgänger Essays

According to Webster’s 5th edition dictionary, doppelgänger is defined as “being a double or alter ego” of an individual. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story steeped in traditions and symbols. However, the use of the doppelgänger archetype in the poem is evident from the beginning of the story. Enkidu is created to be Gilgamesh’s doppelgänger; Gilgamesh and Enkidu undertake two successful quests; and Gilgamesh’s solitary quest to Upnashiptim mirrors Enkidu’s death. The poem is designed in terms of twins

a physical twin’, the doppelganger, or the double, has been a recurring theme in literature for centuries (1987:435). The themes that occur in literature tend to reflect the interests and attitudes of the society and time period from which they originate, and whilst the popularity of the doppelganger motif has remained constant over the past few centuries, the depiction and interpretation of doubles has not. As Rosemary Jackson explains, “recent studies of the Doppelganger in literature have acknowledged

The myth of a doppelgänger is prominent in both Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray being seen in gothic literature across time. The phenomenon of being in two places at once goes against the natural order, and thus we see how hubris is linked to the idea of a doppelgänger in the defiance of God leading to death. A doppelgänger is viewed as an omen. Seeing one’s own doppelgänger is an indication of imminent death. The gothic element to the doppelgänger remains a terrifying ordeal, suggesting

After the completion of eleven weeks’ homework, we have completed a journey to reap the truth in a small story. When I was young, I had read Aesop’s Fables which was translated in Chinese. At that time, the vivid story of human life, the wonderful language description, the thought-provoking reasoning made me learn a lot. And this term’s study not only brought back my knowledge of this book, but also let me harvest amount of English skills during translated English in Chinese. Such as the new words

William Golding's “Lord of the Flies,” tells the story of a group of English boys forsook on a tropical island. Golding's novel demonstrates the battle between good v.s evil, civilization v.s savagery and law v.s anarchy within human society. As time continues to pass the boys descend further and further down the path of savagery, ignoring societal norms and expectations. Throughout the book, the author places numerous symbols that reinforce aspects of civilization. Three of which being the conch’s

3.2 The Doppelgänger Motif in The Monk The Monk exemplifies the doppelgänger motif through the character of Ambrosio, as the story follows his fall from holiness to immorality. At the beginning of the novel, Ambrosio is the abbot of a monastery of Madrid and idolized by everyone. Consequently, he is obviously proud of himself and feels superior to normal people because he has never committed any sins. He has no divided self, or, at least, his honorable self prevails, while the other is hidden somewhere:

Bierce 's unique mastery of the short story form, insofar as his stories reflect the mind of an iconoclast during an age of realism. One of the most fascinating aspects of Ambrose Bierce 's short stories is the appearance of the double motif or doppelganger. Bierce extends the figure of the double, which appears in many of his stories, to reflect his dissatisfaction with the limitations of the contemporary realistic aesthetic and to express his pessimistic perspective on developing nineteenth

Likewise The Picture of Dorian Gray by Wilde also contains the doppelgänger motif. The doppelgänger theory in Dorian Gray first emerges from the painting. The picture of Dorian (created by Basile Hallward) becomes a metaphor for the condition of Dorian’s soul. The picture captures Dorian’s intense beauty, the third person omniscient narrator telling us ‘it had taught him to love his own beauty’(88). One critic, Cohen, presents the view “Dorian forces upon Basil the role of God, who alone can see

Victorian Doppelgänger in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella set in during the nineteenth century, in Victorian England. At the time, repression was the leading factor that caused individuals to feel the need to maintain an unrealistic image of perfection. In this Novella, Dr. Jekyll is presented as a higher class, respected member of the Victorian society who has a doppelganger, Hyde. It

and coincide with our psychological states using setting and imagery. To begin, the first part of the story establishes the connection between physical and psychological space. The boarding school where William Wilson first begins to fear his doppelganger is described, creating an overwhelming

the Victorian era. For example, a large number of people would like to be surrounded in a world containing plenty of mystery and suspense. Then again, a supernatural force can show what someone might or might not want to become. On top of that, a doppelganger in gothic literature definitely represents who the reader should avoid being. As a result, gothic horror is important to a reader because of how it can connect to their lives in a certain way. In the novel Dracula, author Bram Stoker focuses on

film Us directed by Jordan Peele in 2019 is a masterpiece and visually stunning work in the art of storytelling through cinematic techniques. This film tells the story of a family on vacation in Santa Cruz, California. The family is attacked by doppelgangers called "The Tethered." The Tethered are revealed to be clones created as part of a government experiment. The film explores themes of identity, class, and the shadow self, while the family fights to survive against their Tethered counterparts.

to adapt to, and in this ghost’s case, even an aspect of death that continues to imprison him. In A Christmas Carol, a timeless novella demonstrating an opportunity for redemption through change, Charles Dickens employs parallelism, irony, and doppelganger to explore its capacity in contribution to this meaning of the novella as a whole. In particular,

his maturity – which he gained through his journey of killing the old Buffalo woman. Though their actions lead to different paths, the characters still show that they are doppelgangers because they gain the admiration from the people around them. In addition, they follow a set of premises in Andrew J. Webber’s “The Doppelgänger: Double Visions in German Literature.” In his first premise, Webber states, that the main subject “beholds its other self as another, as a visual object (3). Joe views Nanapush

Clarissa and Septimus as doppelgangers In her introduction to 1928 edition of Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf called Septimus as Clarissa’s “double”. Clarissa and Septimus are doppelgangers or doubles of each other. They never met in the novel but their feelings mirror each other’s that is their need to have their own “individuality”. Septimus and Clarissa are also doppelgangers as Septimus represents the external objectification of Clarissa’s internal conflicts. Doppelgangers are the spiritually

Jekyll and Hyde is due to its psychological effects brought upon their main characters, due to their doppelganger. The Yellow Wallpaper and Jekyll and Hyde are two different short stories that were both written during the 19th century, which both have a similar style in which they convey a message relating to the norms during that era. The comparison between the main characters and their doppelgangers are raised by creating conflict between the two characters. The woman in the wallpaper from The Yellow

Omens are symbol which are presented to warn/ forsee either an event on the querent’s horizon. Omens can be presented as either a glyph or a portent. According to the lesson notes, a glyph is an ‘abstract symbol’, often more difficult to rely on due to the fact that two different diviners may not view the symbol in the same way- or possibly see it at all. In comparison, a portent is the observation of an occurrence in nature which is more reliable. The following are some common Omens which are presented

Jekyll and Hyde is due to its psychological effects brought upon their main characters, due to their doppelganger. The Yellow Wallpaper and Jekyll and Hyde are two different short stories that were both written during the 19th century, which both have a similar style in which they convey a message relating to the norms during that era. The comparison between the main characters and their doppelgangers are raised by creating conflict between the two characters. The woman in the wallpaper from The Yellow

Every good thing must come to an end, and one of them is the romantic/fantasy television series, The Vampire Diaries, that is based from the novel of the same name by L.J. Smith. TVD has been running since 2009 starring Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder. The story is about a human girl named Elena, who torn between two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, including a newly-turned vampire friend Caroline and another friend who is a witch named Bonnie, with a wonderful mix of some

literary history. This double may manifest in form of evil doppelgängers and hence, it reveals the shadow selves of the human kind. Along with the establishment of psychology as science, the literary double represents a completely new way of thinking. Consequently, evil is not presented as something external anymore, but rather perceived as something existing within every human. From the beginning of the 19th century to its end, the doppelgänger motif changed from being an outer manifestation of good