“Monsieur du Miroir” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (post 5): The author sees his double, who, if he does know the secret of life, declines to reveal it.

The conceit of this humorous short story is that the author has long known Monsieur du Miroir, who looks exactly like the author, but is someone else. 

“He bears, indisputably, a strong personal resemblance to myself, and generally puts on mourning at the funerals of the family. On the other hand, his name would indicate a French descent; in which case, infinitely preferring that my blood should flow from a bold British and pure Puritan source, I beg leave to disclaim all kindred with M. du Miroir” (1).

To a reader who does not have multiple personality, this story starts out as quite amusing—it is well written—but the one joke soon wears thin, since the premise of seeing someone else in the mirror seems preposterous.

To a reader who does have multiple personality, the story starts out as quite amusing, but the joke may not be just a joke, since alternate personalities are sometimes seen in mirrors. And some alternate personalities do look just like the host personality (hence, the literary term, “double”).

1. Nathaniel Hawthorne. “Monsieur du Miroir” (1837). From Mosses from an Old Manse (1846, 1854). http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/mdum.html