“William Wilson” is narrated by a man of “noble descent” who calls himself William Wilson. The story segues to the narrator’s boyhood, where he meets another boy with the same name, appearance, and birthday (Poe’s birthday). The boy can only speak in a whisper. The narrator leaves the academy and, in the same week, the other boy follows him. The narrator becomes more debauched, mischievous, cheating at cards. The other William appears to alert others to the narrator’s behavior. William, driven by ambition, anger and lust, is haunted by his double in subsequent years, who continually thwarts his plans. When the narrator attempts to seduce a married noblewoman at Carnival in Rome, the other William stops him. Enraged, the narrator drags his “unresisting” double into an antechamber. A brief sword fight ensues, in which the double participates only reluctantly. When the other William is fatally stabbed, a large mirror appears. Reflected at him, he sees “mine own image, but with features all pale and dabbled in blood”: apparently the dead double, “but he spoke no longer in a whisper”. The narrator feels as if he is pronouncing the words: “In me didst thou exist—and in my death, see … how utterly thou hast murdered thyself.”
First Appearance “William Wilson” in The Gift: A Christmas and New Year’s Present for 1840 (October 1839)
First Publisher Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine
Appearance List Collections: Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1923). Film: The Student of Prague (Silent, 1913), William Wilson (1926), William Wilson (1935), Spirits of the Dead or Histoires extraordinaires (1968). Radio: William Wilson (1943).
Description “William Wilson” is narrated by a man of “noble descent” who calls himself William Wilson. The story segues to the narrator’s boyhood, where he meets another boy with the same name, appearance, and birthday (Poe’s birthday). The boy can only speak in a whisper. The narrator leaves the academy and, in the same week, the other boy follows him. The narrator becomes more debauched, mischievous, cheating at cards. The other William appears to alert others to the narrator’s behavior. William, driven by ambition, anger and lust, is haunted by his double in subsequent years, who continually thwarts his plans. When the narrator attempts to seduce a married noblewoman at Carnival in Rome, the other William stops him. Enraged, the narrator drags his “unresisting” double into an antechamber. A brief sword fight ensues, in which the double participates only reluctantly. When the other William is fatally stabbed, a large mirror appears. Reflected at him, he sees “mine own image, but with features all pale and dabbled in blood”: apparently the dead double, “but he spoke no longer in a whisper”. The narrator feels as if he is pronouncing the words: “In me didst thou exist—and in my death, see … how utterly thou hast murdered thyself.”
