The Double In 19th Century Literature

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The use of the ‘double’ as a significant factor in film makes 19th-century literature and mythologies to carry out in today's culture. Using the ‘double’ as a theme has become highly favoured throughout centuries due to the work of nineteenth-century authors such as Hans Christian Andersen "The Little Mermaid", Oscar Wilde "The Picture of Dorian Gray", Edgar Allan Poe "The Cask of Amontillado" and Fyodor Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment". Nevertheless, although while the ‘double’ has continued to be used continuously, the implications and interpretations underneath it have evolved. This raises the question; how does the theme of the ‘double’ cause one the feeling of uncanny or fear, particularly through film? Within Pilar Andrade's text written …show more content…

With the presence or appearance of another self or "other," some important doubts emerge questioning first the identity of this double (who are you?), but also and as a counterpart, the very self-identity of the original (who am I?) and of his/her perception of reality (is what I am seeing real? Is it imagination, hallucination?). Thus, the double questions one of the basic rules of logic: that of non-contradiction. It makes evident that (being A the original and B the copy) the proposition "A is always equal to A and different from B" is incorrect. An exact copy of a human being works with another proposition: "A is always equal to A and equal to A and equal to …show more content…

The different doubles we see in today’s cinema are; ‘narratology doubles’, ‘transformation doubles’, ‘reflection doubles’, and ‘physical doubles’. Restoring the theme of psychological thriller. This is explored by Levi Strauss in his blog post “The Semiotics of the Doppelgänger: The Double in Popular Culture" where he explains each stage of the ‘double’ used within film in today’s society.

Some films and television programs that have utilised these themes of the ‘double’ are Lord of the Rings (2001-2003), Coraline (2009), Orphan Black (2013-1017), Dexter (2006-2013), and Jekyll and Hyde. However the film that will be discussed is "Black Swan” (2010) (refer to fig.4, 5, 6, 7 and 8). What is shown within this film is how it represents the concept of the ‘double’, bringing to light that the protagonist character’s doppelgänger is a part of them, initiating fear within

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