I'm still having trouble with someone (Shade? Kinbote?) musing to himself and presenting it as a conversation with his other personality, or with the two personalities calmly discussing the afterlife (for example).

I can think of at least one other literary example of this - - isn't Dodgson's Alice forever arguing with herself when there are no animals about to talk to?

 

Hurrah!  Now we're getting there. Permanently longing to define the links between LC and VN, I started to re-read Wonderland  this afternoon. And found this, Chapter One:

 

Alice  "generally gave herself very good advice ... and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people".

 

My apologies for butting into this intensely engaging exchange of views.

 

Charles Harrison Wallace