[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/william_wilson_rawscan_7.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''Let me call myself, for the present, William Wilson. The fair page now lying before me need not be sullied with my real appellation.'']]


[[https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/the_story_of_william_wilson.pdf "William Wilson"]] is a ShortStory written by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe in 1839. The titular William Wilson is not actually named William Wilson but we're going to call him that because his actual name embarrasses him. Wilson's weird adventure begins during his school days where he finds another student with the same name as him, who was born on the same day as him and looks just like him. Wilson narrates us as he goes through his life and his mysterious "friend" seems to keep following him.

A short film adaptation of this story directed by Creator/LouisMalle is included in AnthologyFilm ''Film/SpiritsOfTheDead''.

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!! Tropes in "William Wilson":
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%% Zero Context Examples have been commented out. Please provide context before uncommenting.
%% A paraphrase of the trope definition is not context.
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%%* AuthorAppeal: Some elements of this story were helped by Poe's real-life experiences.
%% * CardSharp: This profession is one of the ways William Wilson likes to scam money from people.
* {{Doppelganger}}: The main theme of the story of William repeatedly meeting his other William.
* EnemyWithout: An [[InvertedTrope interesting twist]] on this idea. The narrator is a complete {{Jerkass}}, and the story describes his torment as his schemes are frequently thwarted by another person identical to him, even down to having the same name. It turns out that this second character is the personification of his conscience, whom he murders at the end of the story.
* EvilTwin: {{Inverted|Trope}}. Our narrator believes that the other William Wilson is his Evil Twin. However, in reality, William Wilson himself is a VillainProtagonist, and the other Wilson is actually his conscience. This gets confusing and symbolic when the evil Wilson ''murders'' his twin.
%% * IdenticalStranger: William Wilson at first believes this to be what the other Wilson is.
* KillingYourAlternateSelf: The probable UrExample, as William Wilson murders his Doppelgänger... or perhaps is DrivenToSuicide. The ending is ambiguous.
* SignificantNameOverlap: The narrator and antagonist share the same name, and birthday, and even appearance. He claims that it's inconsequential at first, but the story implies that they actually have a very deep connection. The latter seems to be the embodiment of Wilson's conscience, whom he murders.
* StartOfDarkness: Wilson's life story begins with his school days, when he first established his overbearing and rapacious character, and then he goes on through other, later parts of his life, and therefore this would be a rather condensed example of this trope, as his whole life is as well.
* TomatoInTheMirror: William Wilson discovers that the mysterious Doppelgänger who has been constantly foiling his schemes is himself, or rather the personification of his conscience.
* UnreliableNarrator: Is William Wilson telling us the whole truth? Does he really have a Doppelgänger, or are these just the delusions of a dying man who personifies his long-repressed conscience?
* VillainProtagonist: By the time that William Wilson becomes the narrator of his own story, he has honestly come to terms with himself and the readers that he's never been exactly a noble guy. The life that he led was fraught with cons and taking advantage of others, trying to strip at least one person of his lifesavings and as he admits, rather apprehensively, always reacting with aggression and threats towards anyone who could put him in his place -- and to no one more than the other Wilson, who stopped plenty of such schemes dead into their tracks.
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