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Doppelganger 1

A doppelganger is a literary technique where a character is duplicated or divided into two distinct personalities. It represents the idea that individuals have multiple selves within. Doppelgangers often take the form of an alter ego, ghostly counterpart, or someone with the same name. Famous examples in literature include Jekyll/Hyde, Frankenstein's monster, and Jane Eyre/Bertha. Doppelgangers also appear in films such as Fight Club and Twin Peaks, representing a character's dual nature.

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597 views1 page

Doppelganger 1

A doppelganger is a literary technique where a character is duplicated or divided into two distinct personalities. It represents the idea that individuals have multiple selves within. Doppelgangers often take the form of an alter ego, ghostly counterpart, or someone with the same name. Famous examples in literature include Jekyll/Hyde, Frankenstein's monster, and Jane Eyre/Bertha. Doppelgangers also appear in films such as Fight Club and Twin Peaks, representing a character's dual nature.

Uploaded by

Eddy Alex
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Doppelganger: (Also known as The Double.

) ***A literary technique by which a


character is duplicated (usually in the form of an alter ego, though sometimes as a ghostly
counterpart) or divided into two distinct, usually opposite personalities. The use of this
character device is widespread in nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature, and
indicates a growing awareness among authors that the "self" is really a composite of
many "selves." http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/glossary/glossary_de.htm

***Dopplegänger comes from German; literally translated, it means “doublegoer.” A


dopplegänger is often the ghostly counterpart of a living person. It can also mean a
double, alter ego, or even another person who has the same name. In analyzing the
dopplegänger as a psychic projection caused by unresolved anxieties, Otto Rank
described the double as possessing traits both complementary and antithetical to the
character involved.
Example: In Psycho, by Robert Bloch, Norman Bates becomes so distraught after killing
his mother in a jealous rage that he gradually takes on her personality. She becomes his
alter ego, and by the end of the novel has taken over his mind completely. Other famed
doubles in Gothic lore include Jekyll/Hyde, Victor Frankenstein/his monster, Caleb
Williams/Falkland, and Jane Eyre/Bertha. Perhaps the most perfect literary example of a
doppelganger can be found in Henry James' "The Jolly Corner."
--Jessica Dunlap
http://personal.georgiasouthern.edu/~dougt/goth.html#dop

Doppelgangers in Hitchcock’s movies:


http://faculty.cua.edu/johnsong/hitchcock/pages/doubles/doppelgangers.html

EXAMPLES OF DOPPELGANGERS:
Harry Potter and Voldemort dead ringers
The Prince and the Pauper solaris
Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde identity
Fight Club southland tales
Phoebe and Ursula in Friends constantine
The Secret Sharer face/off
Edgar Allen Poe superman III
twin peaks lord of the rings--gollum/smeagol
fallen
Man in the Iron Mask

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