ABSTRACT
The double is one of the major themes of Western literature. The double already is rather three than two, belonging somewhere in-between or even in the excluded middle. This chapter considers the matter of the double with respect to three themes that are relevant to Zayde and to the period that produced this work. After a separation of several months, during which time Consalve becomes fluent in Zayde's language and she learns to speak his, they meet again, and Consalve asks to marry her. The fear of having lost control of one's appearance in the eyes of others is not peculiar to Consalve. His experience of this fear is especially acute and has the particularity of emphasizing resemblance over difference but the idea that one's physical image is tied to the concept of a being who is fundamentally different from the moi is widespread.
