Sigmund Freud is important in understanding the significance of doubling. Freud has many theories about the psyche, but the most significant one in understanding doubling is the id, ego, and superego. The id is “the source of all our aggressions and desires” (Guerin 204). The id is supposed to be unconscious but part of everyone, no matter how civilized the person is. The ego “regulates the instinctual drives of the id so that they may be released in nondestructive behavioral patterns” (Guerin 205). In other words, the ego is the part of the psyche that makes sure the id doesn’t take too much control. Ego is how we express reason and usually is the part of the mind that we are aware of, and have active control over. The superego stops the “drives of the id” (Guerin 205). The superego is the exact opposite of the id, and where the id is animalistic, the superego protects society. The superego is also an unconscious part of the psyche, serving to balance out the id.
The id, ego, and superego are three parts to one person’s psyche, or personality as the video suggests, but usually the id and superego remain invisible as they are unconscious. Yet, through doubling, characters can become representations of one’s id or one’s superego. First, they have to become aligned with each other, through doubling. We can see doubling throughout much of gothic literature, such as poems like “A Goblin Market” and “Carmilla”; novels such as Frankenstein, and comic books such as The Killing Joke.
Doubles in Gothic Literature 