No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger | Themes

Dreams and the Imagination
In ‘‘The Mysterious Stranger,’’ Twain uses magic as an allegory for the realm of dreams and the imagination. In the Dream-World of our imaginations, he suggests, we can do and be anything, as if by magic.

Twain fills his tale with numerous magical occurrences. Some of the magical elements of ‘‘The Mysterious Stranger’’ are directly associated with the realm of dreams. The Duplicates who appear in the castle one night turn out to be the embodiment of the Dream-Selves of the men they resemble. August’s Duplicate, who calls...


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