The idea presented in “Doppelgandland,” that the presence of doppelgänger Willow was due to alternate realities, could also be applied to “Tranformation” by Mary Shelley, but in a slightly different way. The concept of alternative realities, as presented in Buffy, suggests that the same people exist and live, but in a different scenario and circumstances. The two Willows are the same person, but different aspects of Willow’s personality have been amplified or suppressed, depending on the situation. In the reality of the show, Willow is a very timid, studious, and innocent person, but the Willow of the other world is a blood sucking, evil vampire who “might be a little bit gay”. The interesting relationship between these two Willows, however, is that their essence or ‘natural’ aspect of themselves is the same; they have simply been placed in very different situations. Although I don’t remember exactly what the evil Willow of season 6 is like, the similarities between the evil Willow of this episode and season 6 are quite striking. The fact that the two Willows are really the same person put into completely different situations is made clearer at the end of the episode when Willow begins to balance these different sides of herself. Rather than be as shy and studious as Willow from the beginning of the episode, she starts to realize that there are aspects of herself that she has quenched, but could actually help her.
Using this model of doppelgängers and alternate realities, “Transformations” can be read using a similar mold. It is my opinion that as Guido is walking along the shore the change in scenery description could stand for a sudden change in ‘reality’. Although, it could also be a metaphorical alternate reality, depending on how literally it is read, the sudden change in environment suggests to the reader that Guido just made the transition between one world and another, hence the appearance of the dwarf. The character of the dwarf then represents the Guido of this other reality. If we use Buffy as a model for how to read the situation, the Dwarf would represent the Guido who was born ugly and the Guido of ‘normal’ reality would be the Guido who was born beautiful, the same person, but placed in different circumstances, just as the Willows differed solely on their situations, rather than their core selves. The exchange between Guido and the Dwarf is truly an exchange, the personality of one placed into the body of the other. The beautiful Guido now has the good personality and is then able to beg forgiveness, something that he was always capable of doing, but was too wrapped up in his own pride and stupidity to be able to do. The final culmination of the story is the combining of these two extremes of a single personality, just as with Willow. Although neither story exhibits a complete balance of the two, each acknowledges that there needs to be a mix of the different elements in a person’s character. In the case of Willow, she needed to learn how to be more ‘evil’ in order to protect herself from people walking all over her, while Guido needed to learn how to be a better, more mature individual. However, in both cases, the final personality of the character is not completely one or the other, but a balance of the different characteristics. This same ‘moral’ or theme I believe will also be the case in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, although I have not yet finished the book. The theme, however, works in reverse, rather than the two parts being separate and harmony being found in their union, there is harmony until the two aspects of the personality are separated, then there is no balance and chaos ensues.
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