Dorian Gray Doppelgänger Essay

1. Introduction

Gothic fiction arouse as an opposition to notions of order and rationalism, and was intended to stimulate emotions and superstitious beliefs. It focused on mysteries, supernatural, indescribable phenomena and gloomy settings, but also on “psychological insights” (Cameron 2010: 9) of the characters. Therefore, many Gothic works involve fragmented or double characters. The theme of the doppelgänger or double self, developed in different ways by the various authors, is the inevitable consequence of the ever-growing interest in the complexity of the psyche and the subconscious. The doppelgänger as a character type traditionally represents a “repressed emotion that characters embody” (Romero ...: 21) and derives from the idea that all human beings have a “hidden ugliness” (...: 23) of human beings. Two novels which deal with doppelgängers are Matthew Lewis’s The Monk and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian

In the first chapter, I am going to describe the concept of doppelgänger in more detail, and to trace its development from its origins until today. The second chapter will be dedicated to The Monk. After a brief summary of the plot, I will analyze the novel in order to determine in which way the author used the theme of doubling, focusing especially on the role of hypocrisy. Subsequently, I will do the same with The Picture of Dorian Gray, but putting a certain emphasis on the role of narcissism. The final chapter will be about the initial reception of the two novels and will investigate the purposes of Lewis and Wilde. My intention is to conclude that the topic of the doppelgänger, or double self, is developed differently in the two novels, although there are some similarities, but employed for the same goals, namely to entertain, increase suspense and provide a