Secret Identities in Fiction

Does Dr. Jekyll count as a secret identity?

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DavidM

My knee-jerk reaction to this kind of question is usually “Shakespeare”, but all the examples that spring to mind from Shakespeare really fall into the “simple disguises” category.

The Importance Of Being Earnest (1895) has a more fully-formed secret identity with Ernest/Jack living a true double life in the country and the city, but maybe not in the swashbuckling sense that you’re talking about.

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DavidM

Yeah, they’re kind of similar in that respect, but Zeus disguised himself as all manner of beasts and men. In Norse mythology and tales thereof, Odin often has one specific human form he uses to traverse midgard. A role which is like a separate identity, more than the many disguises Zeus pulls.

Or am I wrong here?

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garjones, DavidM

Yeah, I looked at Zorro too but it was a bit after.

Did Dracula have a secret identity..?

Jon wrote:

Well if you’re not accepting stuff like Robin Hood, or say the Count of Monte Cristo, then yeah, the Scarlet Pimpernel is probably the first one. I was gonna say Zorro, but that was a bit later.

The Count of Monte Cristo 1844 is the prototype of the secret identity of an “agent of vengeance” against the unjust and wicked. However, you see many of the same elements in Jean Valjean from Les Miserables 1862.

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Todd

In the Book of Genesis, Satan takes the secret identity of a serpent to trick Eve into eating an apple. I’m pretty sure that book came out before The Scarlet Pimpernel of The Count of Monte Cristo. Pretty sure…

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garjones, DavidM

njerry wrote:

In the Book of Genesis, Satan takes the secret identity of a serpent to trick Eve into eating an apple. I’m pretty sure that book came out before The Scarlet Pimpernel of The Count of Monte Cristo. Pretty sure…

Well, back when it was written, the serpent wasn’t Satan, it was just a serpent (or the serpent). The idea of Satan as God’s antagonist is an invention of the early Christians, and the idea of the serpent being Satan originated somewhere in the Middle Ages.

…not that that’s not still pretty early. Just sayin’.

DavidM wrote:

I considered Monte Cristo, but I don’t think he satisfies the “dual life” criteria. If Edmond Dantès remained supposedly chained up in prison while secretly sneaking out occasionally to do good deeds as the Count, it’s a secret identity. But he doesn’t do that, instead Dantès ceases to exist, to be replaced by the Count of Monte Cristo. I hadn’t thought of Jean Valjean, but would discount him for the same reason.

That’s a good point. In that case, I’d have to say the American idea began with THE CLANSMAN the popular novel and play that was  contemporary with the Scarlet Pimpernel and predated Zorro. It was the basis of the classic silent film THE BIRTH OF A NATION.

The Clansman | The Patron Saint of Superheroes (wordpress.com)

But the Scarlet Pimpernel lacks one of the superhero’s most defining characteristics. He has no costume, no repeating physical representation. He is only a name and a series of ordinary disguises. (He’s also remarkably non-violent, preferring to deter an enemy with a snuff box of pepper than a blow to the jaw.)

Another historical novel published in 1905 offers a more convincing (though disturbing) predecessor to the modern superhero. Thomas Dixon’s The Clansman is a fancifully offensive portrayal of the KKK as a heroic band of Southern patriots battling the corruption of Northern tyranny. They are also the first 20th century dual identity costumed heroes in American literature.

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Todd, DavidM

Christian wrote:

Well, that’s depressing.

You expect too much out of history. It’s all bad all the time.

Another interesting variation on the secret identity theme is the German Dr. Mabuse. First appearing in a 1921 novel but made much more famous in film, it is difficult to pin down the identity of the villain as he is almost an incorporeal spirit rather than a disguised mastermind.

Also, earlier than most candidates, there is also the story of The Spring-Heeled Jack who around the same time as Jack the Ripper and earlier even had plays and penny dreadfuls written about him where he is a nobleman cheated out of his inheritance who becomes the Jack as a kind of Robin Hood like vigilante/brigand. So it does fit the alter ego element of the secret identity trope since by day he is the nobleman and by night The Jack.

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DavidM, Christian