Двойник (1903) was written at the turn of the century - a period of extreme dynamism in Russian culture when all traditional principles of creative writing were questioned and transformed. Lyricism was no longer regarded as the monologue of an autonomous and self-sufficient subject, enveloped in his inwardness, in his opposition to, and victimisation by, the world outside him. The authors assumed a more open position, placing the emphasis on man's awareness of his existence, on his creative role in the ever-changing universe; and a dialogue between an individual and the world, the 'I' and the 'Other', became a new cornerstone of twentieth century literature.
In the light of the above, the poem Двойник is noteworthy, because the title itself evokes the concept of the 'I' and the 'Other'. Let us consider the opening of the poem:
Вот моя песня - тебе, Коломбина.
Это - угрюмых созвездий печать:
Только в наряде шута-Арлекина
Песни такие умею слагать.
Here is my song- for you Columbine.
It is the mark of the solemn constellations.
Only in the costume of the harlequin-jester
Do I know how to compose songs like these.
The Columbine to whom the entire poem seems to be dedicated takes on the role of a saint-like creature, not merely an inspiration or a lady love of the poet, but something eternal, elevated and omniscient. Thus the poem as a whole takes on the form of a confession in which the Harlequin admits first of all to his deity and then to himself that his fate is predetermined. The reference to the sullen constellations - 'Это - угрюмых созвездий печать' ['It is the mark of the solemn constellations'] - clearly implies the idea that everything has already been decided for us; it has been written in the stars, and it is not within human power to change the determined destiny.
The poet, however, is above the common crowd: his costume of a harlequin gives him the power to become clairvoyant: 'Только в наряде шута-Арлекина / Песни такие умею слагать'['Only in the costume of the harlequin-jester do I know how to compose songs like these']. It seems as if by putting on his mask he enters a secret brotherhood to which all mysteries of humanity are open and which allows him to communicate with the supreme being - the Columbine. This reference to the costume acquires particular significance because it strongly accentuates the link with the 'future Other'. Firstly, the costume suggests a parallel with an actor who is inevitably aware of the script and therefore of his destiny within the play (as opposed to the audience which remains in ignorance). Secondly, the costume of the jester echoes the traditional tales in which it is always the most intelligent character, whom everyone ridicules at the beginning, who proves to be the voice of the universal truth at the end. In this way Blok arrives at the principle of representing the prophetic 'Other' within the personal 'I', the humanity within a human being.
The image of the destiny, the future 'Other', is introduced in the following stanzas:
Двое - мы тащимся вдоль по базару,
Оба - в звенящем наряде шутов.
Эй, полюбуйтесь на глупую пару,
Слушайте звон удалых бубенцов!
Мимо идут, говоря: "Ты, прохожий,
Точно такой же, как я, как другой;
Следом идет на тебя не похожий
Сгорбленный нищий с сумой и клюкой".Both of us - we are dragging our feet through the market place,
Both - in the jingling costumes of jesters.
Hey, look at the silly pair, listen to the tinkle of the bold bells!
They walk by, saying: 'You, a passer-by, are exactly the same as I, as another;
The one that follows you is different -
A hunch-backed beggar with a bag and a staff.'
These lines present two people, dragging their feet along the market place. However there are several details in the poem that indicate that in fact these two people form one entity: 'Те же глаза, хоть различен наряд'['the eyes are the same, although the costumes are different!..'], 'Может быть рядом со мной они встретят/ Мой же лукавый, смеющийся взгляд'['Perhaps, next to me, they would encounter, my own, mischievous laughing gaze!'], 'Или для вас наряжаться пестрее,/Чтобы вы знали, что мы с ним одно?' ['Shall dress brighter for you? So that you would know that he and I are one?']. Furthermore, the old man, the eternal companion of the poet, his 'двойник' as suggested by the title, incarnates the future that awaits the young man, and that only he, with his gift of clairvoyance given to him by the costume that he wears, has the power to see. Such reading of this image arises from the short and concise comments of the old man. 'Старик' reiterates the word 'скоро' ('Дряхлый старик повторяет мне: "Скоро"'['The decrepit old man repeats to me: "Soon"']) which demonstrates that he is the voice of the future. The second remark: 'Иди. Не пущу' ['Go. I will not let you go'], is apparently a seeming contradiction, nevertheless it shows how the predetermined future, the old man, is capable of controlling the actions of the young poet, urging him to go forward in life, but being eternally bonded to him, not letting him go alone, allowing no escape from his destiny. We can also notice that the Harlequin himself does not appear to see the old man, although he is fully aware that he is following him. This is due to the fact that his companion is always behind him: 'Следом идет на тебя не похожий/Сгорбленный нищий с сумой и клюкой' ['the one that follows you is different - a hunch-backed beggar with a bag and a staff.'] or 'Я - Арлекин, и за мною - старик' ['I - the Harlequin - and behind me - the old man']. This can be seen as a simple chronological line: old age always follows youth. However such image also implies the concept of 'the one standing behind the left shoulder', Death. The latter suggests a more general conclusion: the old man is not only a symbol of the poet's forthcoming old age, but the universal future that awaits each and every one of us, so that the concreteness of the personal 'I' is risen to the essence of the universal 'Other'.
When discussing Blok's views on the 'I' and the 'Other' interaction there is another important point to note. This relationship is carried out not according to the formal principle of causality, but according to the metaphysical principle of coexistence and interdependence. In the poem the chronological space in distorted. The present and the future are shown simultaneously, and the reality of such coexistence is undoubtedly accentuated by the fact that the action takes place at the market - the place which is traditionally associated with the everyday life of common people. The formal principle of causality is also rejected. The cause is not followed by the consequence: in the poem it is not the past of the hero, but his future that dictates his actions: 'Иди. Не пущу' ['Go. I will not let you go']. It is not one's past that is important and affects the present life, but the unchangeable future, that forms a part of every living person ('Или для вас наряжаться пестрее,/Чтобы вы знали, что мы с ним одно?'['Shall dress brighter for you? So that you would know that he and I are one?']), and that everyone refuses to recognise. Blok admits the difficulty of such perception, which violates the laws of formal logic and which not everyone is able to comprehend. The crowd surrounding the jester neither recognises the old man as a double of the hero ('Следом идет на тебя не похожий/Сгорбленный нищий с сумой и клюкой' ['the one that follows you is different - a hunch-backed beggar with a bag and a staff.'] or 'Кто угадает, что мы с ним вдвоем?' ['Who will guess that we are both together?']), nor sees the costume that the hero is wearing ('Мимо идут, говоря: "Ты, прохожий/ Точно такой же, как я, как другой" ['They walk by, saying: "You, a passer-by, are exactly the same as I, as another"']). They are blinded by their own stubbornness and ignorance; they are unable to perceive the jester within the common man and therefore to become aware of their destinies which they already contain within themselves.
Blok's personal perception of the duality of existence of the 'I' and the 'Other', the fatality of carrying the 'Other' within oneself is revealed through the image of Columbine. In the poem Columbine symbolises the public. The jester dedicates his life to pleasing the audience ('Вот моя песня - тебе, Коломбина' ['Here is my song- for you Columbine']), while the public dictates every action of the actor, just as the Columbine (her 'розовый лик' ['rosy face']) leads the Harlequin and the old man into a crowded shop:
Там, где на улицу, в звонкую давку,
Взглянет и спрячется розовый лик, -
Там мы войдем в многолюдную лавку, -
Я - Арлекин, и за мною - старик.There, where onto the street and into the sonorous crush
The rosy face will glance and hide;
There we shall walk into the crowded shop,
I - the Harlequin, and behind me - the old man.
Actors performing a play inevitably look up at the audience, awaiting its judgement. In the poem the boxes in the theatre take on the appearance of a window, through which the Columbine looks at the play, hence at the world:
Там - голубое окно Коломбины,
Розовый вечер, уснувший карниз...There - the sky blue window of the Columbine
The rosy evening, the slumbering ledge...or
Та, что в окне - розовей навечерий,
Та, что вверху, - ослепительней дня!
Там Коломбина!...
The one who is in the window is more rosy than the evening dusk,
The one who is up there is more blinding than the day!
The Columbine is there!
However in the poem an interesting paradox is created: a play is inevitably associated with artificiality, with something larger than life, but pure and innocent at the same time; real life, on the other hand, is always more complex and undefined. Nevertheless the colours associated with the audience, the Columbine, are pink and sky blue, which are the recognised colours of purity and innocence. Furthermore in the last stanza the poet gives a rather hyperbolic description of her, pointedly implying that she is above the real world: 'Та, что в окне - розовей навечерий,/Та, что вверху, - ослепительней дня!'['The one who is in the window is more rosy than the evening dusk, the one who is up there is more blinding than the day!'] The costume of the Harlequin, on the other hand, is multicoloured ('Взглянут в глаза мне за пестрый наряд' ['look into my eyes behind the motley costume']), much more complex than the plain clear colours of the Columbine, suggesting that the actor, not the audience, is in this case the representative of human life. This can also explain the poet's plea to the people to be 'like children' ('О, люди! О звери!/Будьте, как дети. Поймите меня' ['Oh, people! Oh, animals! Be like children. Do understand me']) to give up their conventionalism and artificiality, to tune to the Harlequin's mode of existence ('Поймите меня' ['Do understand me']) and through this to become more natural and more human.
Therefore in Blok's views this man-Harlequin, whose nature comprises the 'I' and the 'Other', is a fully integrated and most accomplished person. While remaining himself, the jester is constantly metamorphosing into the 'Other': he exists as both a parallel and an objective contradiction to himself. At the same time, it is the jester, in the multitude of his transformations, who traditionally represents the universal truth. He, accordingly, becomes the herald of the world, not an individual, but a being comprising the universe within itself, the humanity within one person. In contrast to what we find in Belyi's work, this image is translated into reality and represents Blok's idea of нераздельность и неслиянность (inseparability and distinctness) of the 'I' and the 'Other'.