Imaginary Doubles: the Figure of the Doppelgänger in J.S. Le Fanu’s “Green Tea” (1872)

Present in many literary trends as a resourceful narrative artefact, the doppelgänger can be traced back in many different folk traditions. Ranging from the Egyptian ka—a tangible, spiritual double holding identical memories and feelings—to the Norse vardøger—a “ghostly double who precedes a living person and is witnessed performing their actions in advance” (Webb 2013, 5)—doppelgängers seemingly offer a critical reading of their contemporary societies. The nineteenth century saw Gothic writers explore the concept of the doppelgänger as an irrational reaction to a rapidly evolving modern world (Herdman 1990, 11-20). It is, therefore, worth examining how nineteenth-century Irish writers adapted their own version of the mythological figure—the fetch—to address the anxieties which haunted them. Consequently, this paper examines the figure of the doppelgänger in J.S. Le Fanu’s “Green Tea” (1872) as a reflection of the colonial anxieties of the writer’s caste, troubled by their ideas of “class, sectarian, and—eventually—racial difference” (Hansen 2009, 28). Analysing the spaces which fostered the apparition of the monkey/doppelgänger, together with the narrative techniques employed in constructing the characters and the literary setting, unveils the intellectual and societal concerns which generated this dehumanised version of the self.