William Wilson

"William Wilson" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839, with a setting inspired by Poe's formative years on the outskirts of London. The tale follows the theme of the doppelgänger and is written in a style based on rationality. The story follows a man of "a noble descent" who calls himself William Wilson because, although denouncing his profligate past, he does not accept full blame for his actions, saying that "man was never thus... tempted before". After several paragraphs, the narration then segues into a description of Wilson's boyhood, which was spent in a school "in a misty-looking village of England".