William Wilson Themes

“William Wilson” explores the theme of the doppelganger, or ghostly double. Poe’s inspiration for the story was the horror one feels when discovering another person shares your na...

Lies, imagination, subconscious-driven fantasy, wishful thinking, alter egos: this story has more versions of reality than an onion has layers. Not only is the narrator unsure of what is really hap...

There is little of objective reality to be found in “William Wilson,” and if you think you’ve found it, good luck proving that it's not a lie. From the story’s unreliable na...

“William Wilson” presents conscience as a distinct and separate part of our identity, an alter ego, in fact. Conscience dogs us, doesn’t let us rest, is always by our side –...

“William Wilson” is the story of a man trapped by his own conscience and victim to his own overactive imagination. All of his attempts at escaping are necessarily doomed from the start;...