I ALSO NEED A SUMMARY OF WILLIAM WILSON TO HELP ME ASK SOME CHECK-TO-READ QUESTIONS FOR MY EVIL TEACHER. THE MORE DETAILS IN THE SUMMARY THE BEST. AND TRY TO HELP ME WITH THE ? BELOW (WHICH IS ALSO MINE)

THANXZ A LOT!

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2003

Answers

William Wilson is the name given to the narrator of Poe's short story. William Wilson, a young student in a "prison-like" school, describes the school house and his experiences there with the typical haunting gloom of a Poe story. Strangely, a schoolmate of William Wilson's, who arrived on the same day and appeared almost physically identical to William Wilson, shared his name as well. Although they were "the most inseparable of companions," the narrator developed a potent hatred for his counterpart. In an odd encounter, the narrator sneaks by candlelight into his companion's bedroom, and steals a glimpse of William Wilson as he sleeps. In awe, the narrator hurriedly fled the chamber and the school, never to return again. Two years later, while at Oxford, the narrator's twin appears abruptly at a card game which William Wilson is handily winning, and exposes Wilson as a cheat. William Wilson is forced to leave Oxford immediately.

The narrator travels around Europe in search of revenge, always missing him. Finally, at a carnival in Rome, the William Wilsons meet. The narrator grabs the William Wilson from the "school-boy days,--the namesake, the companion, the rival" and violently stabs him to death. The dying Wilson utters, "You have conquered, and I yield. Yet henceforward art thou also dead--dead to the World, to Heaven, and to Hope!"

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2004