While these could simply provide atmosphere, Dostoevsky exploits them to build up a palpable sense of anxiety for his reader, a reflection of his hero’s anxiety. In addition to this episode and the uncanny double, gothic psychologies such as anxiety, uneasiness, and dread permeate the work. By the end, though, he seems resigned to the existence of his double. repeatedly asks himself if he is hallucinating or going mad. is filled with anxiety, fear, and dread, almost as though the appearance of his double is expected. (that is, the double) appears, Golyadkin, Sr. This episode from Chapter 5 of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Double features all the conventions of a derivative gothic scene: the stroke of midnight, a persecuted hero, stormy weather, isolation, and a sense of “inexplicable uneasiness.” Yet, even before Golyadkin, Jr. “Have I gone mad or something?” (141) he asks himself, incredulously. All of a sudden, in this damp, dark, misty night, Golyadkin comes face to face with his double! A cold shiver runs down his spine, as he stands, senselessly staring after the other. The moment unbearably unpleasant!” (140). Trudging through the darkness, Golyadkin experiences a strange new sensation: “melancholy, yet not melancholy, fear, and yet not fear… a feverish trembling through his veins. He is alone a feeling of “inexplicable uneasiness” (139) comes over him. Golyadkin in the face like a thousand pins” (138). Even this rain is ominous, “cutting and stinging Mr. This soundscape also includes piercing squeaks from rattling lanterns and a gurgling backdrop from the heavy rain. Petersburg comes alive: black waters rise up against the embankments and howling winds gust through the streets. Golyadkin is crossing the Fontanka in a terrible storm. “Gothic Doubling and The Double, Gothically” is part of #TheDoubleEvent, and cross-posted from All the Russias, the blog of the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, with their permission.Īs the bells begin to toll the midnight hour, Mr. Katherine Bowers is an Assistant Professor of Slavic Studies at the University of British Columbia.

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