What is the Meaning of Alter ego | Definition and What is Alter ego

Alter ego is a Latin phrase meaning 'other me '. The concept is used to designate a person on which there is full confidence, which allows to make oneself without restrictions. It can act, moreover, the person (real or fictional) who is identified or it recognizes an imitation or one replica of another.
Examples: "Mario is my alter ego: you can talk about it with him without you", "If you want to ask something to the boss and that he is not in the office, you can talk with Susanne, who is his alter ego," "Bolivian writer expressed his point of view on the elections through Johnny, the fictional character who acts as his alter ego".
The concept of alter ego, in psychology, is used in reference to the second personality of an individual. Alter ego, in this case, is a dissociation produced by an identity disorder, where the 'me' has more than one personality acting differently.
This idea is often taken in fiction to symbolize the moral struggle between good and evil which can develop in a person. The most famous case is that of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, created by Robert Louis Stevenson, where Jekylle is a renowned scientist and Hyde is a dark and misanthropic itself.
Another example of an alter ego in fiction was created by J.R.R. Tolkien in his "Lord of the rings" saga, where Gollum appears as the alter ego of Sméagol.

Published for educational purposes