The theme is doppelganger. Another boy at his school looks and acts like himself, and was even born on the same day, January 19th (Poe's actual birth day). The first Wilson goes to the bad in life, but is haunted by his good double. After being subject to admonished at Eaton and his honor destroyed at Oxford, William [no matter where he flies to--Vienna, Berlin, Moscow] is haunted by his double in subsequent years, who thwarts plans described by William as driven by ambition [in Rome], revenge [in Paris], passionate Love [in Naples], and avarice [In Egypt]. One thing William cannot understand is that while no one knows anything about his double, his double always seems to know everything about William. Eventually he kills the double.