Name: William Wilson
Author: Edgar Allan Poe

William Wilson is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and originally published in 1839.

William Wilson begins the story by focusing on his past, which has been very wasteful, although he has no regrets about it.

The reason he has no regrets is that he claims to have suffered the greatest temptation a man can have.

During his childhood at the Elizabethan school he attended, William met a young man very much like himself. Not only did he have the same name, but he also imitated his way of dressing, and their birthdays coincided....

It is a curious fact that the birthday of the boy who looked like William Wilson coincides with the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe himself, albeit in a different year.

"LET me call myself, for the present, William Wilson. The fair page now lying before me need not be sullied with my real appellation. This has been already too much an object for the scorn—for the horror—for the detesta- tion of my race."

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William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe is believed to be in the public domain in the United States only. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not in the United States, please check your local laws to ensure this eBook is in the public domain in your country before downloading William Wilson in PDF or ePub.

WHY READ WILLIAM WILSON IN 2025?

186 years later, still timely

A double appears and a conscience awakens. Poe stages a duel between impulse and integrity in rooms thick with dread. It’s a compact study of the self we curate and the self that refuses to be edited.

TODAY'S CONNECTION

Avatars, alter accounts, and online reputations complicate identity. This tale probes accountability amid masks.