of peculiar shape several members of his family are sitting, etc._" In
connection with this table, it occurs to him that he saw such a piece of
furniture during a visit to a certain family. Then his thoughts
continue: In this family a peculiar relation had existed between father
and son, and soon he adds to this that as a matter of fact the same
relation exists between himself and his father. The table is therefore
taken up into the dream to designate this parallel.
This dreamer had for a long time been familiar with the claims of dream
interpretation. Otherwise he might have taken exception to the fact that
so trivial a detail as the shape of a table should be taken as the
basis of the investigation. As a matter of fact we judge nothing in the
dream as accidental or indifferent, and we expect to reach our
conclusion by the explanation of just such trivial and unmotivated
details. Perhaps you will be surprised that the dream work should arouse
the thought "we are in exactly the same position as they are," just by
the choice of the table. But even this becomes clear when you learn that
the name of the family in question is _Tischler_. By permitting his own
family to sit at such a table, he intends to express that they too are
_Tischler_. Please note how, in relating such a dream interpretation,
one must of necessity become indiscreet. Here you have arrived at one of
the difficulties in the choice of examples that I indicated before. I
could easily have substituted another example for this one, but would
probably have avoided this indiscretion at the cost of committing
another one in its place.
The time has come to introduce two new terms, which we could have used
long ago. We shall call that which the dream relates, the manifest
content of the dream; that which is hidden, which we can only reach by
the analysis of ideas we shall call latent dream thoughts. We may now
consider the connection between the manifest dream content and the
latent dream thoughts as they are revealed in these examples. Many
different connections can exist. In examples 1 and 2 the manifest
content is also a constituent part of the latent thought, but only a
very small part of it. A small piece of a great composite psychic
structure in the unconscious dream thought has penetrated into the
manifest dream, like a fragment of it, or in other cases, like an
allusion to it, like a catchword or an abbreviation in the telegraphic
code. The interpretation must mould this fragment, or indication, into a
whole, as was done most successfully in example 2. One sort of
distortion of which the dream mechanism consists is therefore
substitution by means of a fragment or an allusion. In the third,
moreover, we must recognize another relation which we shall see more
clearly and distinctly expressed in the following examples:
4. The dreamer "_pulls a certain woman of his acquaintance from behind a
bed_." He finds the meaning of this dream element himself by his first
association. It means: This woman "has a pull" with him.[26]
5. Another man dreams that "_his brother is in a closet_." The first
association substitutes _clothes-press_ for closet, and the second gives
the meaning: his brother is _close-pressed_ for money.[27]
6. The dreamer "_climbs a mountain from the top of which he has an
extraordinarily distant view_." This sounds quite sensible; perhaps
there is nothing about it that needs interpretation, and it is simply
necessary to find out which reminiscence this dream touches upon and why
it was recalled. But you are mistaken; it is evident that this dream
requires interpretation as well as any other which is confused. For no
previous mountain climbing of his own occurs to the dreamer, but he
remembers that an acquaintance of his is publishing a "_Rundschau_,"
which deals with our relation to the furthermost parts of the earth. The
latent dream thought is therefore in this case an identification of the
dreamer with the "_Rundschauer_."
Here you find a new type of connection between the manifest content and
the latent dream element. The former is not so much a distortion of the
latter as a representation of it, a plastic concrete perversion that is
based on the sound of the word. However, it is for this very reason
again a distortion, for we have long ago forgotten from which concrete
picture the word has arisen, and therefore do not recognize it by the
image which is substituted for it. If you consider that the manifest
dream consists most often of visual images, and less frequently of
thoughts and words, you can imagine that a very particular significance
in dream formation is attached to this sort of relation. You can also
see that in this manner it becomes possible to create substitute
formations for a great number of abstract thoughts in the manifest
dream, substitutions that serve the purpose of further concealment all
the same. This is the technique of our picture puzzle. What the origin
is of the semblance of wit which accompanies such representations is a
particular question which we need not touch upon at this time.
A fourth type of relation between the manifest and the latent dream
cannot be dealt with until its cue in the technique has been given. Even
then I shall not have given you a complete enumeration, but it will be
sufficient for our purpose.
Have you the courage to venture upon the interpretation of an entire
dream? Let us see if we are well enough equipped for this undertaking.
Of course, I shall not choose one of the most obscure, but one
nevertheless that shows in clear outline the general characteristics of
a dream.
A young woman who has been married for many years dreams: "_She is
sitting in the theatre with her husband; one side of the orchestra is
entirely unoccupied. Her husband tells her that Elise L. and her
bridegroom had also wished to come, but had only been able to procure
poor seats, three for_ 1 _Fl.,_ 50 _Kr. and those of course they could
not take. She thinks this is no misfortune for them._"
The first thing that the dreamer has to testify is that the occasion for
the dream is touched upon in its manifest content. Her husband had
really told her that Elise L., an acquaintance of about her age, had
become engaged. The dream is the reaction to this news. We already know
that in the case of many dreams it is easy to trace such a cause to the
preceding day, and that the dreamer often gives these deductions without
any difficulty. The dreamer also places at our disposal further
information for other parts of the manifest dream content. Whence the
detail that one side of the orchestra is unoccupied? It is an allusion
to an actual occurrence of the previous week. She had made up her mind
to go to a certain performance and had procured tickets in advance, so
much in advance that she had been forced to pay a preference tax.[28]
When she arrived at the theatre, she saw how needless had been her
anxiety, for _one side of the orchestra was almost empty_. She could
have bought the tickets on the day of the performance itself. Her
husband would not stop teasing her about her excessive haste. Whence the
1 Fl. 50 Kr.? From a very different connection that has nothing to do
with the former, but which also alludes to an occurrence of the previous
day. Her sister-in-law had received 150 florins as a present from her
husband, and knew no better, the poor goose, than to hasten to the
jeweler and spend the money on a piece of jewelry. Whence the number 3?
She can think of nothing in connection with this unless one stresses the
association that the bride, Elise L., is only three months younger than
she herself, who has been married for almost ten years. And the
absurdity of buying three tickets for two people? She says nothing of
this, and indeed denies all further associations or information.
But she has given us so much material in her few associations, that it
becomes possible to derive the latent dream thought from it. It must
strike us that in her remarks concerning the dream, time elements which
constitute a common element in the various parts of this material appear
at several points. She attended to the tickets _too soon_, took them
_too hastily_, so that she had to pay more than usual for them; her
sister-in-law likewise _hastened_ to carry her money to the jeweler's to
buy a piece of jewelry, just as if she might _miss_ it. Let us add to
the expressions "_too early_," "_precipitately_," which are emphasized
so strongly, the occasion for the dream, namely, that her friend only
three months younger than herself had even now gotten a good husband,
and the criticism expressed in the condemnation of her sister-in-law,
that it was _foolish_ to hurry so. Then the following construction of
the latent dream thought, for which the manifest dream is a badly
distorted substitute, comes to us almost spontaneously:
"How _foolish_ it was of me to hurry so in marrying! Elise's example
shows me that I could have gotten a husband later too." (The
precipitateness is represented by her own behavior in buying the
tickets, and that of her sister-in-law in purchasing jewelry. Going to
the theatre was substituted for getting married. This appears to have
been the main thought; and perhaps we may continue, though with less
certainty, because the analysis in these parts is not supported by
statements of the dreamer.) "And I would have gotten 100 times as much
for my money." (150 Fl. is 100 times as much as 1 Fl. 50 Kr.). If we
might substitute the dowry for the money, then it would mean that one
buys a husband with a dowry; the jewelry as well as the poor seats would
represent the husband. It would be even more desirable if the fragment
"3 seats" had something to do with a husband. But our understanding does
not penetrate so far. We have only guessed that the dream expresses her
_disparagement_ of her own husband, and her regret at having _married so
early_.
It is my opinion that we are more surprised and confused than satisfied
by the result of this first dream interpretation. We are swamped by more
impressions than we can master. We see that the teachings of dream
interpretation are not easily exhausted. Let us hasten to select those
points that we recognize as giving us new, sound insight.
In the first place, it is remarkable that in the latent thought the main
emphasis falls on the element of haste; in the manifest dream there is
absolutely no mention of this to be found. Without the analysis we
should not have had any idea that this element was of any importance at
all. So it seems possible that just the main thing, the central point of
the unconscious thoughts, may be absent in the manifest dream. Because
of this, the original impression in the dream must of necessity be
entirely changed. Secondly: In the dream there is a senseless
combination, 3 for 1 Fl. 50 Kr.; in the dream thought we divine the
sentence, "It was senseless (to marry so early)." Can one deny that this
thought, "It was senseless," was represented in the manifest dream by
the introduction of an absurd element? Thirdly: Comparison will show
that the relation between the manifest and latent elements is not
simple, certainly not of such a sort that a manifest element is always
substituted for the latent. There must rather be a quantitative
relationship between the two groups, according to which a manifest
element may represent several latent ones, or a latent element
represented by several manifest elements.
Much that is surprising might also be said of the sense of the dream and
the dreamer's reaction to it. She acknowledges the interpretation but
wonders at it. She did not know that she disparaged her husband so, and
she did not know why she should disparage him to such a degree. There is
still much that is incomprehensible. I really believe that we are not
yet fully equipped for dream interpretation, and that we must first
receive further instruction and preparation.
EIGHTH LECTURE
THE DREAM
_Dreams of Childhood_
We think we have advanced too rapidly. Let us go back a little. Before
our last attempt to overcome the difficulties of dream distortion
through our technique, we had decided that it would be best to avoid
them by limiting ourselves only to those dreams in which distortion is
either entirely absent or of trifling importance, if there are such. But
here again we digress from the history of the evolution of our
knowledge, for as a matter of fact we become aware of dreams entirely
free of distortion only after the consistent application of our method
of interpretation and after complete analysis of the distorted dream.
The dreams we are looking for are found in children. They are short,
clear, coherent, easy to understand, unambiguous, and yet unquestionable
dreams. But do not think that all children's dreams are like this. Dream
distortion makes its appearance very early in childhood, and dreams of
children from five to eight years of age have been recorded that showed
all the characteristics of later dreams. But if you will limit
yourselves to the age beginning with conscious psychic activity, up to
the fourth or fifth year, you will discover a series of dreams that are
of a so-called infantile character. In a later period of childhood you
will be able to find some dreams of this nature occasionally. Even among
adults, dreams that closely resemble the typically infantile ones occur
under certain conditions.
From these children's dreams we gain information concerning the nature
of dreams with great ease and certainty, and we hope it will prove
decisive and of universal application.
1. For the understanding of these dreams we need no analysis, no
technical methods. We need not question the child that is giving an
account of his dream. But one must add to this a story taken from the
life of the child. An experience of the previous day will always explain
the dream to us. The dream is a sleep-reaction of psychic life upon
these experiences of the day.
We shall now consider a few examples so that we may base our further
deductions upon them.
_a_). A boy of 22 months is to present a basket of cherries as a
birthday gift. He plainly does so very unwillingly, although they
promise him that he will get some of them himself. The next morning he
relates as his dream, "_Hermann eat all cherries_."
_b_). A little girl of three and a quarter years makes her first trip
across a lake. At the landing she does not want to leave the boat and
cries bitterly. The time of the trip seems to her to have passed
entirely too rapidly. The next morning she says, "_Last night I rode on
the lake_." We may add the supplementary fact that this trip lasted
longer.
_c_). A boy of five and a quarter years is taken on an excursion into
the Escherntal near Hallstatt. He had heard that Hallstatt lay at the
foot of the Dachstein, and had shown great interest in this mountain.
From his home in Aussee there was a beautiful view of the Dachstein, and
with a telescope one could discern the Simonyhuette upon it. The child
had tried again and again to see it through the telescope, with what
result no one knew. He started on the excursion in a joyously expectant
mood. Whenever a new mountain came in sight the boy asked, "Is that the
Dachstein?" The oftener this question was answered in the negative, the
more moody he became; later he became entirely silent and would not take
part in a small climb to a waterfall. They thought he was overtired, but
the next morning, he said quite happily, "_Last night I dreamed that we
were in the Simonyhuette_." It was with this expectation, therefore, that
he had taken part in the excursion. The only detail he gave was one he
had heard before, "you had to climb steps for six hours."
These three dreams will suffice for all the information we desire.
2. We see that children's dreams are not meaningless; they are
_intelligible, significant, psychic acts_. You will recall what I
represented to you as the medical opinion concerning the dream, the
simile of untrained fingers wandering aimlessly over the keys of the
piano. You cannot fail to see how decidedly these dreams of childhood
are opposed to this conception. But it would be strange indeed if the
child brought forth complete psychic products in sleep, while the adult
in the same condition contents himself with spasmodic reactions. Indeed,
we have every reason to attribute the more normal and deeper sleep to
the child.
3. Dream distortion is lacking in these dreams, therefore they need no
interpretation. The manifest and latent dreams are merged. _Dream
distortion is therefore not inherent in the dream._ I may assume that
this relieves you of a great burden. But upon closer consideration we
shall have to admit of a tiny bit of distortion, a certain
differentiation between manifest dream content and latent dream thought,
even in these dreams.
4. The child's dream is a reaction to an experience of the day, which
has left behind it a regret, a longing or an unfulfilled desire. _The
dream brings about the direct unconcealed fulfillment of this wish._ Now
recall our discussions concerning the importance of the role of external
or internal bodily stimuli as disturbers of sleep, or as dream
producers. We learned definite facts about this, but could only explain
a very small number of dreams in this way. In these children's dreams
nothing points to the influence of such somatic stimuli; we cannot be
mistaken, for the dreams are entirely intelligible and easy to survey.
But we need not give up the theory of physical causation entirely on
this account. We can only ask why at the outset we forgot that besides
the physical stimuli there are also psychic sleep-disturbing stimuli.
For we know that it is these stimuli that commonly cause the disturbed
sleep of adults by preventing them from producing the ideal condition of
sleep, the withdrawal of interest from the world. The dreamer does not
wish to interrupt his life, but would rather continue his work with the
things that occupy him, and for this reason he does not sleep. The
unfulfilled wish, to which he reacts by means of the dream, is the
psychic sleep-disturbing stimulus for the child.
5. From this point we easily arrive at an explanation of the function of
the dream. The dream, as a reaction to the psychic stimulus, must have
the value of a release of this stimulus which results in its elimination
and in the continuation of sleep. We do not know how this release is
made possible by the dream, but we note that _the dream is not a
disturber of sleep_, as calumny says, _but a guardian of sleep, whose
duty it is to quell disturbances_. It is true, we think we would have
slept better if we had not dreamt, but here we are wrong; as a matter of
fact, we would not have slept at all without the help of the dream. That
we have slept so soundly is due to the dream alone. It could not help
disturbing us slightly, just as the night watchman often cannot avoid
making a little noise while he drives away the rioters who would awaken
us with their noise.
6. One main characteristic of the dream is that a wish is its source,
and that the content of the dream is the gratification of this wish.
Another equally constant feature is that the dream does not merely
express a thought, but also represents the fulfillment of this wish in
the form of a hallucinatory experience. "_I should like to travel on the
lake_," says the wish that excites the dream; the dream itself has as
its content "_I travel on the lake_." One distinction between the latent
and manifest dream, a distortion of the latent dream thought, therefore
remains even in the case of these simple children's dreams, namely, _the
translation of the thought into experience_. In the interpretation of
the dream it is of utmost importance that this change be traced back. If
this should prove to be an extremely common characteristic of the dream,
then the above mentioned dream fragment, "_I see my brother in a
closet_" could not be translated, "_My brother is close-pressed_," but
rather, "I wish that my brother were close-pressed, _my brother should
be close-pressed_." Of the two universal characteristics of the dream we
have cited, the second plainly has greater prospects of unconditional
acknowledgment than the first. Only extensive investigation can
ascertain that the cause of the dream must always be a wish, and cannot
also be an anxiety, a plan or a reproach; but this does not alter the
other characteristic, that the dream does not simply reproduce the
stimulus but by experiencing it anew, as it were, removes, expells and
settles it.
7. In connection with these characteristics of the dream we can again
resume the comparison between the dream and the error. In the case of
the latter we distinguish an interfering tendency and one interfered
with, and the error is the compromise between the two. The dream fits
into the same scheme. The tendency interfered with, in this case, can
be no other than that of sleep. For the interfering tendency we
substitute the psychic stimulus, the wish which strives for its
fulfillment, let us say, for thus far we are not familiar with any other
sleep-disturbing psychic stimulus. In this instance also the dream is
the result of compromise. We sleep, and yet we experience the removal of
a wish; we gratify the wish, but at the same time continue to sleep.
Both are partly carried out and partly given up.
8. You will remember that we once hoped to gain access to the
understanding of the dream problem by the fact that certain very
transparent phantasy formations are called _day dreams_. Now these day
dreams are actual wish fulfillments, fulfillments of ambitious or erotic
wishes with which we are familiar; but they are conscious, and though
vividly imagined, they are never hallucinatory experiences. In this
instance, therefore, the less firmly established of the two main
characteristics of the dream holds, while the other proves itself
entirely dependent upon the condition of sleep and impossible to the
waking state. In colloquial usage, therefore, there is a presentment of
the fact that the fulfillment of a wish is a main characteristic of the
dream. Furthermore, if the experience in the dream is a transformed
representation only made possible by the condition of sleep--in other
words, a sort of nocturnal day dream--then we can readily understand
that the occurrence of phantasy formations can release the nocturnal
stimulus and bring satisfaction. For day dreaming is an activity closely
bound up in gratification and is, indeed, pursued only for this reason.
Not only this but other colloquial usages also express the same feeling.
Well-known proverbs say, "The pig dreams of acorns, the goose of maize,"
or ask, "Of what does the hen dream? Of millet." So the proverb descends
even lower than we do, from the child to the animal, and maintains that
the content of a dream is the satisfaction of a need. Many turns of
speech seem to point to the same thing--"dreamlike beauty," "I should
never have dreamed of that," "in my wildest dreams I hadn't imagined
that." This is open partisanship on the part of colloquial usage. For
there are also dreams of fear and dreams of embarrassing or indifferent
content, but they have not been drawn into common usage. It is true that
common usage recognizes "bad" dreams, but still the dream plainly
connotates to it only the beautiful wish fulfillment. There is indeed
no proverb that tells us that the pig or the goose dreams of being
slaughtered.
Of course it is unbelievable that the wish-fulfillment characteristic
has not been noted by writers on the dream. Indeed, this was very often
the case, but none of them thought of acknowledging this characteristic
as universal and of making it the basis of an explanation of the dream.
We can easily imagine what may have deterred them and shall discuss it
subsequently.