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“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
“The Tell-Tale Heart” is one of Poe’s most famous confessional tales, in which its unnamed narrator attempts to justify his murder of an old man. Both stories explore the murderous psychologies of killers who on some level believe they were justified in their actions. However, whereas the narrator of “William Wilson” seems to recognize his own depravity, the narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” takes an almost gloating tone as he describes the thought that went into his murderous plot.
“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe
Like “William Wilson,” “The Cask of Amontillado” explores a man’s desire for vengeance that ends with a cold-blooded murder. Montresor, like Wilson, perceives his rival Fortunato as intentionally insulting him, although the details are not nearly as clear as Wilson’s. Additionally, both murders take place during the Catholic holiday of Carnival. Carnival is a celebration of excess and a temporary suspension of societal norms before Lent, a period of fasting and self-reflection. In addition to bringing these implications to both stories, Poe uses Carnival as an excuse to give his characters masks, playing with themes of identity.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Perhaps the most famous doppelganger tale, Jekyll and Hyde explores the duality of good and evil contained within each person. Stevenson’s work explores the horror that occurs when researcher Dr. Jekyll invents a potion that separates out his bad desires and impulses into a different persona, known as Mr. Hyde. As in the case of Wilson, the evil persona eventually subsumes the good. Some scholars believe that reading Poe’s work inspired the dream that then spurred Stevenson to write the novel.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Wilde’s classic novel is often compared with “William Wilson” for their shared explorations of moral decay. Here, the naïve and beautiful young Dorian Gray falls into a life of vice and corruption once he realizes that a portrait a friend painted of him takes on the physical consequences of his evil actions. Like the narrator of William Wilson, Dorian Gray’s desire to outrun all consequences takes a murderous turn, leading to the dissolution of his soul.
