Talk:William Wilson (short story)
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[edit] Interesting bit of trivia...may be relevant
Since the subject is that of a doppelganger, it is interesting to note that in the 1980s in baseball there were two centerfielders who both were decent hitters, great fielders (although with questionable throwing arms) and very fast. The two players were Willie Wilson and Mookie Wilson whose given name was William as well.
Strange, no?
[edit] Washington Irving Mystery
I'm a bit mystified regarding the contradictions in this extract from the article:
- Additionally, Poe acknowledged that the idea of a story about the irritation one feels by meeting someone with the same name, thereby ruining a feeling of uniqueness, was inspired by an article by Washington Irving. At the end of Irving's tale, the main character kills his double with his sword, only to see his own face behind the mask.
Did Irving write an 'article' or a 'tale', and if so what was it called? Colin4C 21:32, 21 July 2007 (UTC)
- Well, the source I got it from uses both "article" and "tale" - not particularly surprising or mystifying considering that this stuff was being printed in newspapers and magazines. I was wondering about the title of the piece myself, but I haven't researched it deeply enough yet. Silverman is usually pretty good with this kind of info but he left me wanting more here. Let me know if you happen upon it. --Midnightdreary 00:02, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
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- I have just looked at the notes to 'William Wilson' in my Penguin edition of the Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. Here it says 'The plot of the story was suggested by Washington Irving's 'Unwritten Drama of Lord Byron'. However the nature of Irving's piece is not made clear... Colin4C 10:21, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
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- Good job finding that. Now that we have a name, maybe something else will pop up. I'll keep looking. Thanks for asking about this! --Midnightdreary 13:46, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
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[edit] Connections to Lolita?
This short story is an obvious reference point for Nabokov's Lolita: a confessional story of a murderer with a reflexive name who murders his doppleganger/arch-nemesis. Do you feel it would be appropriate to include this in the article? 69.116.66.190 (talk) 04:14, 10 May 2008 (UTC) TremorMilo (sorry not signed in)
- Well, the tradition of the doppelganger is going to look similar (no pun intended) no matter what work of literature is utilizing it. Because it's Nabokov, I might believe it's specifically reflecting Poe. But, we can't add anything without a reference that says so, lest it fall under the dreaded original research. So, really, the answer here is no, unless you have a source you can cite. --Midnightdreary (talk) 11:27, 10 May 2008 (UTC)
