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CHAPTER TWO
The Method of Dream Interpretation
THE ANALYSIS OF A SPECIMEN DREAM
The epigraph on the title-page of this volume* indicates the tradition to which
I prefer to
ally myself in my conception of the dream. I am proposing to show that dreams
are
capable of interpretation; and any contributions to the solution of the problem
which have
already been discussed will emerge only as possible by-products in the
accomplishment
of my special task. On the hypothesis that dreams are susceptible of
interpretation, I at
once find myself in disagreement with the prevailing doctrine of dreams -- in
fact, with
all the theories of dreams, excepting only that of Scherner, for `to interpret a
dream', is to
specify its `meaning', to replace it by something which takes its position in
the
concatenation of our psychic activities as a link of definite importance and
value. But, as
we have seen, the scientific theories of the dream leave no room for a problem
of dreaminterpretation;
since, in the first place, according to these theories, dreaming is not a
psychic activity at all, but a somatic process which makes itself known to the
psychic
apparatus by means of symbols. Lay opinion has always been opposed to these
theories.
It asserts its privilege of proceeding illogically, and although it admits that
dreams are
incomprehensible and absurd, it cannot summon up the courage to deny that dreams
have
any significance. Led by a dim intuition, it seems rather to assume that dreams
have a
meaning, albeit a hidden one; that they are intended as a substitute for some
other
thought-process, and that we have only to disclose this substitute correctly in
order to
discover the hidden meaning of the dream.
The unscientific world, therefore, has always endeavoured to `interpret' dreams,
and by
applying one or the other of two essentially different methods. The first of
these methods
envisages the dream-content as a whole, and seeks to replace it by another
content, which
is intelligible and in certain respects analogous. This is symbolic
dream-interpretation;
and of course it goes to pieces at the very outset in the case of those dreams
which are not
only unintelligible but confused. The construction which the biblical Joseph
placed upon
the dream of Pharaoh furnishes an example of this method. The seven fat kine,
after
which came seven lean ones that devoured the former, were a symbolic substitute
for
seven years of famine in the land of Egypt, which according to the prediction
were to
consume all the surplus that seven fruitful years had produced. Most of the
artificial
dreams contrived by the poets1 are intended for some such symbolic
interpretation, for
they reproduce the thought conceived by the poet in a guise not unlike the
disguise which
we are wont to find in our dreams.
The idea that the dream concerns itself chiefly with the future, whose form it
surmises in
advance -- a relic of the prophetic significance with which dreams were once
invested --
now becomes the motive for translating into the future the meaning of the dream
which
has been found by means of symbolic interpretation.
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A demonstration of the manner in which one arrives at such a symbolic
interpretation
cannot, of course, be given. Success remains a matter of ingenious conjecture,
of direct
intuition, and for this reason dream-interpretation has naturally been elevated
into an art
which seems to depend upon extraordinary gifts.2 The second of the two popular
methods
of dream-interpretation entirely abandons such claims. It might be described as
the
`cipher method', since it treats the dream as a kind of secret code in which
every sign is
translated into another sign of known meaning, according to an established key.
For
example, I have dreamt of a letter, and also of a funeral or the like; I consult
a `dreambook',
and I find that `letter' is to be translated by `vexation' and `funeral' by
`engagement'. It now remains to establish a connection, which I am again to
assume as
pertaining to the future, by means of the rigmarole which I have deciphered. An
interesting variant of this cipher procedure, a variant in which its character
of purely
mechanical transference is to a certain extent corrected, is presented in the
work on
dream-interpretation by Artemidoros of Daldis.3 Here not only the dream-content,
but
also the personality and social position of the dreamer are taken into
consideration, so
that the same dream-content has a significance for the rich man, the married
man, or the
orator, which is different from that which applies to the poor man, the
bachelor, or, let us
say, the merchant. The essential point, then, in this procedure is that the work
of
interpretation is not applied to the entirety of the dream, but to each portion
of the dreamcontent
severally, as though the dream were a conglomerate in which each fragment calls
for special treatment. Incoherent and confused dreams are certainly those that
have been
responsible for the invention of the cipher method.4
The worthlessness of both these popular methods of interpretation does not admit
of
discussion. As regards the scientific treatment of the subject, the symbolic
method is
limited in its application, and is not susceptible of a general exposition, In
the cipher
method everything depends upon whether the `key', the dream-book, is reliable,
and for
that all guarantees are lacking. So that one might be tempted to grant the
contention of
the philosophers and psychiatrists, and to dismiss the problem of
dream-interpretation as
altogether fanciful.5
I have, however, come to think differently. I have been forced to perceive that
here, once
more, we have one of those not infrequent cases where an ancient and stubbornly
retained
popular belief seems to have come nearer to the truth of the matter than the
opinion of
modern science. I must insist that the dream actually does possess a meaning,
and that a
scientific method of dream-interpretation is possible. I arrived at my knowledge
of this
method in the following manner.
For years I have been occupied with the resolution of certain psychopathological
structures -- hysterical phobias, obsessional ideas, and the like -- with
therapeutic
intentions. I have been so occupied, in fact, ever since I heard the significant
statement of
Joseph Breuer, to the effect that in these structures, regarded as morbid
symptoms,
solution and treatment go hand in hand.6 Where it has been possible to trace a
pathological idea back to those elements in the psychic life of the patient to
which it
owed its origin, this idea has crumbled away, and the patient has been relieved
of it. In
view of the failure of our other therapeutic efforts, and in the face of the
mysterious
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character of these pathological conditions, it seemed to me tempting, in spite
of all the
difficulties, to follow the method initiated by Breuer until a complete
elucidation of the
subject had been achieved. I shall have occasion elsewhere to give a detailed
account of
the form which the technique of this procedure has finally assumed, and of the
results of
my efforts. In the course of these psychoanalytic studies, I happened upon the
question of
dream-interpretation. My patients, after I had pledged them to inform me of all
the ideas
and thoughts which occurred to them in connection with a given theme, related
their
dreams, and thus taught me that a dream may be interpolated in the psychic
concatenation, which may be followed backwards from a pathological idea into a
patient's memory. The next step was to treat the dream itself as a symptom, and
to apply
to it the method of interpretation which had been worked out for such symptoms.
For this a certain psychic preparation on the part of the patient is necessary.
A twofold
effort is made, to stimulate his attentiveness in respect of his psychic
perceptions, and to
eliminate the critical spirit in which he is ordinarily in the habit of viewing
such thoughts
as come to the surface. For the purpose of self-observation with concentrated
attention it
is advantageous that the patient should take up a restful position and close his
eyes; he
must be explicitly instructed to renounce all criticism of the thought
formations which he
may perceive. He must also be told that the success of the psychoanalysis
depends upon
his noting and communicating everything that passes through his mind, and that
he must
not allow himself to suppress one idea because it seems to him unimportant or
irrelevant
to the subject, or another because it seems nonsensical. He must preserve an
absolute
impartiality in respect to his ideas; for if he is unsuccessful in finding the
desired solution
of the dream, the obsessional idea, or the like, it will be because he permits
himself to be
critical of them.
I have noticed in the course of my psychoanalytical work that the psychological
state of a
man in an attitude of reflection is entirely different from that of a man who is
observing
his psychic processes. In reflection there is a greater play of psychic activity
than in the
most attentive self-observation; this is shown even by the tense attitude and
the wrinkled
brow of the man in a state of reflection, as opposed to the mimic tranquillity
of the man
observing himself. In both cases there must be concentrated attention, but the
reflective
man makes use of his critical faculties, with the result that he rejects some of
the thoughts
which rise into consciousness after he has become aware of them, and abruptly
interrupts
others, so that he does not follow the lines of thought which they would
otherwise open
up for him; while in respect of yet other thoughts he is able to behave in such
a manner
that they do not become conscious at all -- that is to say, they are suppressed
before they
are perceived. In self-observation, on the other hand, he has but one task --
that of
suppressing criticism; if he succeeds in doing this, an unlimited number of
thoughts enter
his consciousness which would otherwise have eluded his grasp. With the aid of
the
material thus obtained -- material which is new to the self-observer -- it is
possible to
achieve the interpretation of pathological ideas, and also that of
dream-formations. As
will be seen, the point is to induce a psychic state which is in some degree
analogous, as
regards the distribution of psychic energy (mobile attention), to the state of
the mind
before falling asleep -- and also, of course, to the hypnotic state. On falling
asleep the
`undesired ideas' emerge, owing to the slackening of a certain arbitrary (and,
of course,
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also critical) action, which is allowed to influence the trend of our ideas; we
are
accustomed to speak of fatigue as the reason of this slackening; the merging
undesired
ideas are changed into visual and auditory images. In the condition which it
utilised for
the analysis of dreams and pathological ideas, this activity is purposely and
deliberately
renounced, and the psychic energy thus saved (or some part of it) is employed in
attentively tracking the undesired thoughts which now come to the surface --
thoughts
which retain their identity as ideas (in which the condition differs from the
state of falling
asleep). `Undesired ideas' are thus changed into `desired' ones.
There are many people who do not seem to find it easy to adopt the required
attitude
toward the apparently `freely rising' ideas, and to renounce the criticism which
is
otherwise applied to them. The `undesired ideas' habitually evoke the most
violent
resistance, which seeks to prevent them from coming to the surface. But if we
may credit
our great poet-philosopher Friedrich Schiller, the essential condition of
poetical creation
includes a very similar attitude. In a certain passage in his correspondence
with Körner
(for the tracing of which we are indebted to Otto Rank), Schiller replies in the
following
words to a friend who complains of his lack of creative power: `The reason for
your
complaint lies, it seems to me, in the constraint which your intellect imposes
upon your
imagination. Here I will make an observation, and illustrate it by an allegory.
Apparently
it is not good -- and indeed it hinders the creative work of the mind -- if the
intellect
examines too closely the ideas already pouring in, as it were, at the gates.
Regarded in
isolation, an idea may be quite insignificant, and venturesome in the extreme,
but it may
acquire importance from an idea which follows it; perhaps, in a certain
collocation with
other ideas, which may seem equally absurd, it may be capable of furnishing a
very
serviceable link. The intellect cannot judge all these ideas unless it can
retain them until it
has considered them in connection with these other ideas. In the case of a
creative mind,
it seems to me, the intellect has withdrawn its watchers from the gates, and the
ideas rush
in pell-mell, and only then does it review and inspect the multitude. You worthy
critics,
or whatever you may call yourselves, are ashamed or afraid of the momentary and
passing madness which is found in all real creators, the longer or shorter
duration of
which distinguishes the thinking artist from the dreamer. Hence your complaints
of
unfruitfulness, for you reject too soon and discriminate too severely' (letter
of December
1, 1788).
And yet, such a withdrawal of the watchers from the gates of the intellect, as
Schiller puts
it, such a translation into the condition of uncritical self-observation, is by
no means
difficult.
Most of my patients accomplish it after my first instructions. I myself can do
so very
completely, if I assist the process by writing down the ideas that flash through
my mind.
The quantum of psychic energy by which the critical activity is thus reduced,
and by
which the intensity of self-observation may be increased, varies considerably
according
to the subject-matter upon which the attention is to be fixed.
The first step in the application of this procedure teaches us that one cannot
make the
dream as a whole the object of one's attention, but only the individual
components of its
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content. If I ask a patient who is as yet unpractised: `What occurs to you in
connection
with this dream?' he is unable, as a rule, to fix upon anything in his psychic
field of
vision. I must first dissect the dream for him; then, in connection with each
fragment, he
gives me a number of ideas which may be described as the `thoughts behind' this
part of
the dream. In this first and important condition, then, the method of
dream-interpretation
which I employ diverges from the popular, historical and legendary method of
interpretation by symbolism and approaches more nearly to the second or `cipher
method'. Like this, it is an interpretation in detail, not en masse; like this,
it conceives the
dream, from the outset, as something built up, as a conglomerate of psychic
formations.
In the course of my psychoanalysis of neurotics I have already subjected perhaps
more
than a thousand dreams to interpretation, but I do not wish to use this material
now as an
introduction to the theory and technique of dream-interpretation. For quite
apart from the
fact that I should lay myself open to the objection that these are the dreams of
neuropaths,
so that the conclusions drawn from them would not apply to the dreams of healthy
persons, there is another reason that impels me to reject them. The theme to
which these
dreams point is, of course, always the history of the malady that is responsible
for the
neurosis. Hence every dream would require a very long introduction, and an
investigation
of the nature and etiological conditions of the psychoneuroses, matters which
are in
themselves novel and exceedingly strange, and which would therefore distract
attention
from the dream-problem proper. My purpose is rather to prepare the way, by the
solution
of the dream-problem, for the solution of the more difficult problems of the
psychology
of the neuroses. But if I eliminate the dreams of neurotics, which constitute my
principal
material, I cannot be too fastidious in my treatment of the rest. Only those
dreams are left
which have been incidentally related to me by healthy persons of my
acquaintance, or
which I find given as examples in the literature of dream-life. Unfortunately,
in all these
dreams I am deprived of the analysis without which I cannot find the meaning of
the
dream. My mode of procedure is, of course, less easy than that of the popular
cipher
method, which translates the given dream-content by reference to an established
key; I,
on the contrary, hold that the same dream-content may conceal a different
meaning in the
case of different persons, or in different connections. I must, therefore,
resort to my own
dreams as a source of abundant and convenient material, furnished by a person
who is
more or less normal, and containing references to many incidents of everyday
life. I shall
certainly be confronted with doubts as to the trustworthiness of these
`self-analyses', and
it will be said that arbitrariness is by no means excluded in such analyses. In
my own
judgment, conditions are more likely to be favourable in self-observation than
in the
observation of others; in any case, it is permissible to investigate how much
can be
accomplished in the matter of dream-interpretation by means of self-analysis.
There are
other difficulties which must be overcome in my own inner self. One has a
comprehensible aversion to exposing so many intimate details of one's own
psychic life,
and one does not feel secure against the misinterpretations of strangers. But
one must be
able to transcend such considerations. `Tout psychologiste,' writes Delboeuf,
`est obligé
de faire l'aveu même de ses faiblesses s'il croit par là jeter du jour sur
quelque problème
obscur.' And I may assume for the reader that his initial interest in the
indiscretions
which I must commit will very soon give way to an exclusive engrossment in the
psychological problems elucidated by them.7
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I shall therefore select one of my own dreams for the purpose of elucidating my
method
of interpretation. Every such dream necessitates a preliminary statement; so
that I must
now beg the reader to make my interests his own for a time, and to become
absorbed,
with me, in the most trifling details of my life; for an interest in the hidden
significance of
dreams imperatively demands just such a transference.
Preliminary Statement -- In the summer of 1895 I had treated psycho-analytically
a
young lady who was an intimate friend of mine and of my family. It will be
understood
that such complicated relations may excite manifold feelings in the physician,
and
especially the psychotherapist. The personal interest of the physician is
greater, but his
authority less. If he fails, his friendship with the patient's relatives is in
danger of being
undermined. In this case, however, the treatment ended in partial success; the
patient was
cured of her hysterical anxiety, but not of all her somatic symptoms. At that
time I was
not yet quite sure of the criteria which denote the final cure of an hysterical
case, and I
expected her to accept a solution which did not seem acceptable to her. In the
midst of
this disagreement we discontinued the treatment for the summer holidays. One day
a
younger colleague, one of my most intimate friends, who had visited the patient
-- Irma --
and her family in their country residence, called upon me. I asked him how Irma
was, and
received the reply: `She is better, but not quite well.' I realise that these
words of my
friend Otto's, or the tone of voice in which they were spoken, annoyed me. I
thought I
heard a reproach in the words, perhaps to the effect that I had promised the
patient too
much, and -- rightly or wrongly -- I attributed Otto's apparent `taking sides'
against me to
the influence of the patient's relatives, who, I assumed, had never approved of
my
treatment. This disagreeable impression, however, did not become clear to me,
nor did I
speak of it. That same evening I wrote the clinical history of Irma's case, in
order to give
it, as though to justify myself, to Dr M., a mutual friend, who was at that time
the leading
personality in our circle. During the night (or rather in the early morning) I
had the
following dream, which I recorded immediately after waking:8
Dream of July 23-24, 1895
A great hall -- a number of guests, whom we are receiving -- among them Irma,
whom I
immediately take aside, as though to answer her letter, and to reproach her for
not yet
accepting the `solution'. I say to her: `If you still have pains, it is really
only your own
fault.' -- She answers: `If you only knew what pains I have now in the throat,
stomach,
and abdomen -- I am choked by them.' I am startled, and look at her. She looks
pale and
puffy. I think that after all I must be overlooking some organic affection. I
take her to the
window and look into her throat. She offers some resistance to this, like a
women who
has a set of false teeth. I think, surely, she doesn't need them. -- The mouth
then opens
wide, end I find a large white spot on the right, and elsewhere I see extensive
greyishwhite
scabs adhering to curiously curled formations, which are evidently shaped like
the
turbinal bones of the nose. -- I quickly call Dr M., who repeats the examination
and
confirms it. . . . Dr M. looks quite unlike his usual self; he is very pale, he
limps, and his
chin is clean-shaven. . . . Now my friend Otto, too, is standing beside her, and
my friend
Leopold percusses her covered chest, and says: `She has a dullness below, on the
left,'
and also calls attention to an infiltrated portion of skin on the left shoulder
(which I can
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feel, in spite of the dress). . . . M. says: `There's no doubt that it's an
infection, but it
doesn't matter; dysentery will follow and the poison will be eliminated.'. . . .
We know,
too, precisely how the infection originated. My friend Otto, not long ago, gave
her, when
she was feeling unwell, an injection of a preparation of propyl . . . propyls .
. . propionic
acid . . . trimethylamin (the formula of which I see before me, printed in heavy
type). . . .
One doesn't give such injections so rashly. . . . Probably, too, the syringe was
not clean.
This dream has an advantage over many others. It is at once obvious to what
events of the
preceding day it is related, and of what subject it treats. The preliminary
statement
explains these matters. The news of Irma's health which I had received from
Otto, and the
clinical history, which I was writing late into the night, had occupied my
psychic
activities even during sleep. Nevertheless, no one who had read the preliminary
report,
and had knowledge of the content of the dream, could guess what the dream
signified.
Nor do I myself know. I am puzzled by the morbid symptoms of which Irma
complains
in the dream, for they are not the symptoms for which I treated her. I smile at
the
nonsensical idea of an injection of propionic acid, and at Dr M.'s attempt at
consolation.
Towards the end the dream seems more obscure and quicker in tempo than at the
beginning. In order to learn the significance of all these details I resolve to
undertake an
exhaustive analysis.
ANALYSIS
The hall -- a number of guests, whom we are receiving. We were living that
summer at
Bellevue, an isolated house on one of the hills adjoining the Kahlenberg. This
house was
originally built as a place of entertainment, and therefore has unusually lofty,
hall-like
rooms. The dream was dreamed in Bellevue, a few days before my wife's birthday.
During the day my wife had mentioned that she expected several friends, and
among
them Irma, to come to us as guests for her birthday. My dream, then, anticipates
this
situation: It is my wife's birthday, and we are receiving a number of people,
among them
Irma, as guests in the large hall of Bellevue.
I reproach Irma for not having accepted the `solution', I say, `If you still
have pains, it is
really your own fault.' I might even have said this while awake; I may have
actually said
it. At that time I was of the opinion recognised (later to be incorrect) that my
task was
limited to informing patients of the hidden meaning of their symptoms. Whether
they
then accepted or did not accept the solution upon which success depended -- for
that I
was not responsible. I am grateful to this error, which, fortunately, has now
been
overcome, since it made life easier for me at a time when, with all my
unavoidable
ignorance, I was expected to effect successful cures. But I note that in the
speech which I
make to Irma in the dream I am above all anxious that I shall not be blamed for
the pains
which she still suffers. If it is Irma's own fault, it cannot be mine. Should
the purpose of
the dream be looked for in this quarter?
Irma's complaints -- pains in the neck, abdomen, and stomach; she is choked by
them.
Pains in the stomach belonged to the symptom-complex of my patient, but they
were not
very prominent; she complained rather of qualms and a feeling of nausea. Pains
in the
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neck and abdomen and constriction of the throat played hardly any part in her
case. I
wonder why I have decided upon this choice of symptoms in the dream; for the
moment I
cannot discover the reason.
She looks pale and puffy. My patient had always a rosy complexion. I suspect
that here
another person is being substituted for her.
I am startled at the idea that I may have overlooked some organic affection.
This, as the
reader will readily believe, is a constant fear with the specialist who sees
neurotics almost
exclusively, and who is accustomed to ascribe to hysteria so many manifestations
which
other physicians treat as organic. On the other hand, I am haunted by a faint
doubt -- I do
not know whence it comes -- whether my alarm is altogether honest. If Irma's
pains are
indeed of organic origin, it is not my duty to cure them. My treatment, of
course, removes
only hysterical pains. It seems to me, in fact, that I wish to find an error in
the diagnosis;
for then I could not be reproached with failure to effect a cure.
I take her to the window in order to look into her throat. She resists a little,
like a woman
who has false teeth. I think to myself, she does not need them. I had never had
occasion to
inspect Irma's oral cavity. The incident in the dream reminds me of an
examination, made
some time before, of a governess who at first produced an impression of youthful
beauty,
but who, upon opening her mouth, took certain measures to conceal her denture.
Other
memories of medical examinations, and of petty secrets revealed by them, to the
embarrassment of both physician and patient, associate themselves with this
case. -- `She
surely does not need them', is perhaps in the first place a compliment to Irma:
but I
suspect yet another meaning. In a careful analysis one is able to feel whether
or not the
arrière-pensées which are to be expected have all been exhausted. The way in
which
Irma stands at the window suddenly reminds me of another experience. Irma has an
intimate woman friend of whom I think very highly. One evening, on paying her a
visit, I
found her at the window in the position reproduced in the dream, and her
physician, the
same Dr M., declared that she had a diphtheritic membrane. The person of Dr M.
and the
membrane return, indeed, in the course of the dream. Now it occurs to me that
during the
past few months I have had every reason to suppose that this lady too is
hysterical. Yes,
Irma herself betrayed the fact to me. But what do I know of her condition? Only
the one
thing, that like Irma in the dream she suffers from hysterical choking. Thus, in
the dream
I have replaced my patient by her friend. Now I remember that I have often
played with
the supposition that this lady, too, might ask me to relieve her of her
symptoms. But even
at the time I thought it improbable since she is extremely reserved. She
resists, as the
dream shows. Another explanation might be that she does not need it; in fact,
until now
she has shown herself strong enough to master her condition without outside
help. Now
only a few features remain, which I can assign neither to Irma nor to her
friend; pale,
puffy, false teeth. The false teeth led me to the governess; I now feel inclined
to be
satisfied with bad teeth. Here another person, to whom these features may
allude, occurs
to me. She is not my patient, and I do not wish her to be my patient, for I have
noticed
that she is not at her ease with me, and I do not consider her a docile patient.
She is
generally pale, and once, when she had not felt particularly well, she was
puffy.'9 I have
thus compared my patient Irma with two others, who would likewise resist
treatment.
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What is the meaning of the fact that I have exchanged her for her friend in the
dream?
Perhaps that I wish to exchange her; either her friend arouses in me stronger
sympathies,
or I have a higher regard for her intelligence. For I consider Irma foolish
because she
does not accept my solution. The other woman would be more sensible, and would
thus
be more likely to yield. The mouth then opens readily; she would tell more than
Irma.10
What I see in the throat: a white spot and scabby turbinal bones. The white spot
recalls
diphtheria, and thus Irma's friend, but it also recalls the grave illness of my
eldest
daughter two years earlier, and all the anxiety of that unhappy time. The scab
on the
turbinal bones reminds me of my anxiety concerning my own health. At that time I
frequently used cocaine in order to suppress distressing swellings in the nose,
and I had
heard a few days previously that a lady patient who did likewise had contracted
an
extensive necrosis of the nasal mucous membrane. In 1885 it was I who had
recommended the use of cocaine, and I had been gravely reproached in
consequence. A
dear friend, who had died before the date of this dream, had hastened his end by
the
misuse of this remedy.
I quickly call Dr M., who repeats the examination. This would simply correspond
to the
position which M. occupied among us. But the word `quickly' is striking enough
to
demand a special examination. It reminds me of a sad medical experience. By
continually
prescribing a drug (sulphonal), which at that time was still considered
harmless, I was
once responsible for a condition of acute poisoning in the case of a woman
patient, and
hastily turned for assistance to my older and more experienced colleague. The
fact that I
really had this case in mind is confirmed by a subsidiary circumstance. The
patient, who
succumbed to the toxic effects of the drug, bore the same name as my eldest
daughter. I
had never thought of this until now; but now it seems to me almost like a
retribution of
fate -- as though the substitution of persons had to be continued in another
sense; this
Matilda for that Matilda; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It is as
though I were
seeking every opportunity to reproach myself for a lack of medical
conscientiousness.
Dr M. is pale; his chin is shaven, and he limps. Of this so much is correct,
that his
unhealthy appearance often arouses the concern of his friends. The other two
characteristics must belong to another person. An elder brother living abroad
occurs to
me, for he, too, shaves his chin, and if I remember him rightly, the M. of the
dream bears
on the whole a certain resemblance to him. And some days previously the news
arrived
that he was limping on account of an arthritic affection of the hip. There must
be some
reason why I fuse the two persons into one in my dream.
I remember that, in fact, I was on bad terms with both of them for similar
reasons. Both
had rejected a certain proposal which I had recently made them.
My friend Otto is now standing next to the patient, and my friend Leopold
examines her
and calls attention to a dullness low down on the left side. My friend Leopold
also is a
physician, and a relative of Otto's. Since the two practise the same speciality,
fate has
made them competitors, so that they are constantly being compared with one
another.
Both of them assisted me for years, while I was still directing a public clinic
for neurotic
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children. There, scenes like that reproduced in my dream had often taken place.
While I
would be discussing the diagnosis of a case with Otto, Leopold would examine the
child
anew and make an unexpected contribution towards our decision. There was a
difference
of character between the two men like that between Inspector Brasig and his
friend Karl.
Otto was remarkably prompt and alert; Leopold was slow and thoughtful, but
thorough. If
I contrast Otto and the cautious Leopold in the dream I do so, apparently, in
order to extol
Leopold. The comparison is like that made above between the disobedient patient
Irma
and her friend, who was believed to be more sensible. I now become aware of one
of the
tracks along which the association of ideas in the dream proceeds: from the sick
child to
the children's clinic. Concerning the dullness low on the left side, I have the
impression
that it corresponds with a certain case of which all the details were similar, a
case in
which Leopold impressed me by his thoroughness. I thought vaguely, too, of
something
like a metastatic affection, but it might also be a reference to the patient
whom I should
have liked to have in Irma's place. For this lady, as far as I can gather,
exhibited
symptoms which imitated tuberculosis.
An infiltrated portion of skin on the left shoulder. I know at once that this is
my own
rheumatism of the shoulder, which I always feel if I lie awake long at night.
The very
phrasing of the dream sounds ambiguous: `Something which I can feel, as he does,
in
spite of the dress.' `Feel on my own body' is intended. Further, it occurs to me
how
unusual the phrase `infiltrated portion of skin' sounds. We are accustomed to
the phrase
`an infiltration of the upper posterior left'; this would refer to the lungs,
and thus, once
more, to tuberculosis.
In spite of the dress. This, to be sure, is only an interpolation. At the clinic
the children
were, of course, examined undressed; here we have some contrast to the manner in
which
adult female patients have to be examined. The story used to be told of an
eminent
physician that he always examined his patients through their clothes. The rest
is obscure
to me; I have, frankly, no inclination to follow the matter further.
Dr M. says: `It's an infection, but it doesn't matter; dysentery will follow,
and the poison
will be eliminated.' This, at first, seems to me ridiculous; nevertheless, like
everything
else, it must be carefully analysed; more closely observed it seems after all to
have a sort
of meaning. What I had found in the patient was a local diphtheritis. I remember
the
discussion about diphtheritis and diphtheria at the time of my daughter's
illness.
Diphtheria is the general infection which proceeds from local diphtheritis.
Leopold
demonstrates the existence of such a general infection by the dullness, which
also
suggests a metastatic focus. I believe, however, that just this kind of
metastasis does not
occur in the case of diphtheria. It reminds me rather of pyaemia.
It doesn't matter is a consolation. I believe it fits in as follows: The last
part of the dream
has yielded a content to the effect that the patient's sufferings are the result
of a serious
organic affection. I begin to suspect that by this I am only trying to shift the
blame from
myself. Psychic treatment cannot be held responsible for the continued presence
of a
diphtheritic affection. Now, indeed, I am distressed by the thought of having
invented
such a serious illness for Irma, for the sole purpose of exculpating myself. It
seems so
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cruel. Accordingly, I need the assurance that the outcome will be benign, and it
seems to
me that I made a good choice when I put the words that consoled me into the
mouth of Dr
M. But here I am placing myself in a position of superiority to the dream; a
fact which
needs explanation.
But why is this consolation so nonsensical?
Dysentery. Some sort of far-fetched theoretical notion that the toxins of
disease might be
eliminated through the intestines. Am I thereby trying to make fun of Dr M.'s
remarkable
store of farfetched explanations, his habit of conceiving curious pathological
relations?
Dysentery suggests something else. A few months ago I had in my care a young man
who
was suffering from remarkable intestinal troubles; a case which had been treated
by other
colleagues as one of `anaemia with malnutrition'. I realised that it was a case
of hysteria; I
was unwilling to use my psychotherapy on him, and sent him off on a sea-voyage.
Now a
few days previously I had received a despairing letter from him; he wrote from
Egypt,
saying that he had had a fresh attack, which the doctor had declared to be
dysentery. I
suspect that the diagnosis is merely an error on the part of an ignorant
colleague, who is
allowing himself to be fooled by the hysteria; yet I cannot help reproaching
myself for
putting the invalid in a position where he might contract some organic affection
of the
bowels in addition to his hysteria. Furthermore, dysentery sounds not unlike
diphtheria, a
word which does not occur in the dream.
Yes, it must be the case that with the consoling prognosis, `Dysentery will
develop, etc.',
I am making fun of Dr M., for I recollect that years ago he once jestingly told
a very
similar story of a colleague. He had been called in to consult with him in the
case of a
woman who was very seriously ill, and he felt obliged to confront his colleague,
who
seemed very hopeful, with the fact that he found albumen in the patient's urine.
His
colleague, however, did not allow this to worry him, but answered calmly: `That
does not
matter, my dear sir; the albumen will soon be excreted!' Thus I can no longer
doubt that
this part of the dream expresses derision for those of my colleagues who are
ignorant of
hysteria. And, as though in confirmation, the thought enters my mind: `Does Dr
M. know
that the appearances in Irma's friend, his patient, which gave him reason to
fear
tuberculosis, are likewise due to hysteria? Has he recognised this hysteria, or
has he
allowed himself to be fooled?'
But what can be my motive in treating this friend so badly? That is simple
enough: Dr M.
agrees with my solution as little as does Irma herself. Thus, in this dream I
have already
revenged myself on two persons: on Irma in the words, `If you still have pains,
it is your
own fault,' and on Dr M. in the wording of the nonsensical consolation which has
been
put into his mouth.
We know precisely how the infection originated. This precise knowledge in the
dream is
remarkable. Only a moment before this we did not yet know of the infection,
since it was
first demonstrated by Leopold.
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My friend Otto gave her an injection not long ago, when she was feeling unwell.
Otto had
actually related during his short visit to Irma's family that he had been called
in to a
neighbouring hotel in order to give an injection to someone who had been
suddenly taken
ill. Injections remind me once more of the unfortunate friend who poisoned
himself with
cocaine. I had recommended the remedy for internal use only during the
withdrawal of
morphia; but he immediately gave himself injections of cocaine.
With a preparation of propyl . . . propyls . . . propionic acid. How on earth
did this occur
to me? On the evening of the day after I had written the clinical history and
dreamed
about the case, my wife opened a bottle of liqueur labelled `Ananas',11 which
was a
present from our friend, Otto. He had, as a matter of fact, a habit of making
presents on
every possible occasion; I hope he will some day be cured of this by a wife.12
This liqueur
smelt so strongly of fusel oil that I refused to drink it. My wife suggested:
`We will give
the bottle to the servants,' and I, more prudent, objected, with the
philanthropic remark:
`They shan't be poisoned either.' The smell of fusel oil (amyl . . .) has now
apparently
awakened my memory of the whole series: propyl, methyl, etc., which furnished
the
preparation of propyl mentioned in the dream. Here, indeed, I have effected a
substitution: I dreamt of propyl after smelling amyl; but substitutions of this
kind are
perhaps permissible, especially in organic chemistry.
Trimethylamin. In the dream I see the chemical formula of this substance --
which at all
events is evidence of a great effort on the part of my memory -- and the formula
is even
printed in heavy type, as though to distinguish it from the context as something
of
particular importance. And where does trimethylamin, thus forced on my
attention, lead
me? To a conversation with another friend, who for years has been familiar with
all my
germinating ideas, and I with his. At that time he had just informed me of
certain ideas
concerning a sexual chemistry, and had mentioned, among others, that he thought
he had
found in trimethylamin one of the products of sexual metabolism. This substance
thus
leads me to sexuality, the factor to which I attribute the greatest significance
in respect of
the origin of these nervous affections which I am trying to cure. My patient
Irma is a
young widow; if I am required to excuse my failure to cure her, I shall perhaps
do best to
refer to this condition, which her admirers would be glad to terminate. But in
what a
singular fashion such a dream is fitted together! The friend who in my dream
becomes
my patient in Irma's place is likewise a young widow.
I surmise why it is that the formula of trimethylamin is so insistent in the
dream. So many
important things are centred about this one word: trimethylamin is an allusion,
not merely
to the all-important factor of sexuality, but also to a friend whose sympathy I
remember
with satisfaction whenever I feel isolated in my opinions. And this friend, who
plays such
a large part in my life: will he not appear yet again in the concatenation of
ideas peculiar
to this dream? Of course; he has a special knowledge of the results of
affections of the
nose and the sinuses, and has revealed to science several highly remarkable
relations
between the turbinal bones and the female sexual organs. (The three curly
formations in
Irma's throat.) I got him to examine Irma, in order to determine whether her
gastric pains
were of nasal origin. But he himself suffers from suppurative rhinitis, which
gives me
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concern, and to this perhaps there is an allusion in pyaemia, which hovers
before me in
the metastasis of the dream.
One doesn't give such injections so rashly. Here the reproach of rashness is
hurled
directly at my friend Otto. I believe I had some such thought in the afternoon,
when he
seemed to indicate, by word and look, that he had taken sides against me. It
was, perhaps:
`How easily he is influenced; how irresponsibly he pronounces judgment.'
Further, the
above sentence points once more to my deceased friend, who so irresponsibly
resorted to
cocaine injections. As I have said, I had not intended that injections of the
drug should be
taken. I note that in reproaching Otto I once more touch upon the story of the
unfortunate
Matilda, which was the pretext for the same reproach against me. Here,
obviously, I am
collecting examples of my conscientiousness, and also of the reverse.
Probably too the syringe was not clean. Another reproach directed at Otto, but
originating elsewhere. On the previous day I happened to meet the son of an old
lady of
eighty-two, to whom I am obliged to give two injections of morphia daily. At
present she
is in the country, and I have heard that she is suffering from phlebitis. I
immediately
thought that this might be a case of infiltration caused by a dirty syringe. It
is my pride
that in two years I have not given her a single infiltration; I am always
careful, of course,
to see that the syringe is perfectly clean. For I am conscientious. From the
phlebitis I
return to my wife, who once suffered from thrombosis during a period of
pregnancy, and
now three related situations come to the surface in my memory, involving my
wife, Irma,
and the dead Matilda, whose identity has apparently justified my putting these
three
persons in one another's places.
I have now completed the interpretation of the dream.13 In the course of this
interpretation
I have taken great pains to avoid all those notions which must have been
suggested by a
comparison of the dream-content with the dream-thoughts hidden behind this
content.
Meanwhile the `meaning' of the dream has dawned upon me. I have noted an
intention
which is realised through the dream, and which must have been my motive in
dreaming.
The dream fulfils several wishes, which were awakened within me by the events of
the
previous evening (Otto's news, and the writing of the clinical history). For the
result of
the dream is, that it is not I who am to blame for the pain which Irma is still
suffering, but
that Otto is to blame for it. Now Otto has annoyed me by his remark about Irma's
imperfect cure; the dream avenges me upon him, in that it turns the reproach
upon
himself. The dream acquits me of responsibility for Irma's condition, as it
refers this
condition to other causes (which do, indeed, furnish quite a number of
explanations). The
dream represents a certain state of affairs, such as I might wish to exist; the
content of the
dream is thus the fulfilment of a wish; its motive is a wish.
This much is apparent at first sight. But many other details of the dream become
intelligible when regarded from the standpoint of wish-fulfilment. I take my
revenge on
Otto, not merely for too readily taking sides against me, in that I accuse him
of careless
medical treatment (the injection), but I revenge myself also for the bad liqueur
which
smells of fusel oil, and I find an expression in the dream which unites both
these
reproaches: the injection of a preparation of propyl. Still I am not satisfied,
but continue
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to avenge myself by comparing him with his more reliable colleague. Thereby I
seem to
say: `I like him better than you.' But Otto is not the only person who must be
made to feel
the weight of my anger. I take my revenge on the disobedient patient, by
exchanging her
for a more sensible and more docile one. Nor do I pass over Dr M.'s
contradiction; for I
express, in an obvious allusion, my opinion of him: namely, that his attitude in
this case
is that of an ignoramus (`Dysentery will develop, etc.'). Indeed, it seems as
though I were
appealing from him to someone better informed (my friend, who told me about
trimethylamin), just as I have turned from Irma to her friend, and from Otto to
Leopold. It
is as though I were to say: Rid me of these three persons, replace them by three
others of
my own choice, and I shall be rid of the reproaches which I am not willing to
admit that I
deserve! In my dream the unreasonableness of these reproaches is demonstrated
for me in
the most elaborate manner. Irma's pains are not attributable to me, since she
herself is to
blame for them, in that she refuses to accept my solution. They do not concern
me, for
being as they are of an organic nature, they cannot possibly be cured by psychic
treatment. -- Irma's sufferings are satisfactorily explained by her widowhood
(trimethylamin!); a state which I cannot alter. -- Irma's illness has been
caused by an
incautious injection administered by Otto, an injection of an unsuitable drug,
such as I
should never have administered. -- Irma's complaint is the result of an
injection made
with an unclean syringe, like the phlebitis of my old lady patient, whereas my
injections
have never caused any ill effects. I am aware that these explanations of Irma's
illness,
which unite in acquitting me, do not agree with one another; that they even
exclude one
another. The whole plea -- for this dream is nothing else -- recalls vividly the
defence
offered by a man who was accused by his neighbour of having returned a kettle in
a
damaged condition. In the first place, he said, he had returned the kettle
undamaged; in
the second place it already had holes in it when he borrowed it; and in the
third place, he
had never borrowed it at all. A complicated defence, but so much the better; if
only one
of these three lines of defence is recognised as valid, the man must be
acquitted.
Still other themes play a part in the dream, and their relation to my
non-responsibility for
Irma's illness is not so apparent: my daughter's illness, and that of a patient
with the same
name; the harmfulness of cocaine; the affection of my patient, who was
travelling in
Egypt; concern about the health of my wife; my brother, and Dr M.; my own
physical
troubles, and anxiety concerning my absent friend, who is suffering from
suppurative
rhinitis. But if I keep all these things in view, they combine into a single
train of thought,
which might be labelled: concern for the health of myself and others;
professional
conscientiousness. I recall a vaguely disagreeable feeling when Otto gave me the
news of
Irma's condition. Lastly, I am inclined, after the event, to find an expression
of this
fleeting sensation in the train of thoughts which forms part of the dream. It is
as though
Otto had said to me: `You do not take your medical duties seriously enough; you
are not
conscientious; you do not perform what you promise.' Thereupon this train of
thought
placed itself at my service, in order that I might give proof of my extreme
conscientiousness, of my intimate concern about the health of my relatives,
friends and
patients. Curiously enough, there are also some painful memories in this
material, which
confirm the blame attached to Otto rather than my own exculpation. The material
is
apparently impartial, but the connection between this broader material, on which
the
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dream is based, and the more limited theme from which emerges the wish to be
innocent
of Irma's illness, is, nevertheless, unmistakable.
I do not wish to assert that I have entirely revealed the meaning of the dream,
or that my
interpretation is flawless.
I could still spend much time upon it; I could draw further explanations from
it, and
discuss further problems which it seems to propound. I can even perceive the
points from
which further mental associations might be traced; but such considerations as
are always
involved in every dream of one's own prevent me from interpreting it farther.
Those who
are over-ready to condemn such reserve should make the experiment of trying to
be more
straightforward. For the present I am content with the one fresh discovery which
has just
been made: If the method of dream-interpretation here indicated is followed, it
will be
found that dreams do really possess a meaning, and are by no means the
expression of a
disintegrated cerebral activity, as the writers on the subject would have us
believe. When
the work of interpretation has been completed the dream can be recognised as a
wishfulfilment.
* [Virgil, Aeneid VII, 312]
1 In a novel Gradiva, by the poet W. Jensen, I chanced to discover several
fictitious
dreams, which were perfectly correct in their construction, and could be
interpreted as
though they had not been invented, but had been dreamt by actual persons. The
poet
declared, upon my inquiry, that he was unacquainted with my theory of dreams. I
have
made use of this agreement between my investigations and the creations of the
poet as a
proof of the correctness of my method of dream-analysis (Der Wahn und die Träume
in
W. Jensen's Gradiva, vol. i of the Schriften zur angewandten Seelenkunde, 1906,
edited
by myself, Ges. Schriften, vol. ix).
2 Aristotle expressed himself in this connection by saying that the best
interpreter of
dreams is he who can best grasp similarities. For dream-pictures, like pictures
in water,
are disfigured by the motion (of the water), so that he hits the target best who
is able to
recognise the true picture in the distorted one (Büchsenschütz, p. 65).
3 Artemidoros of Daldis, born probably in the beginning of the second century of
our
calendar, has furnished us with the most complete and careful elaboration of
dreaminterpretation
as it existed in the Graeco-Roman world. As Gompertz has emphasised, he
ascribed great importance to the consideration that dreams ought to be
interpreted on the
basis of observation and experience, and he drew a definite line between his own
art and
other methods, which he considered fraudulent. The principle of his art of
interpretation
is, according to Gompertz, identical with that of magic: i.e. the principle of
association.
The thing dreamed meant what it recalled to the memory -- to the memory, of
course, of
the dream-interpreter! This fact -- that the dream may remind the interpreter of
various
things, and every interpreter of different things -- leads, of course, to
uncontrollable
arbitrariness and uncertainty. The technique which I am about to describe
differs from
that of the ancients in one essential point, namely, in that it imposes upon the
dreamer
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himself the work of interpretation. Instead of taking into account whatever may
occur to
the dream-interpreter, it considers only what occurs to the dreamer in
connection with the
dream-element concerned. According to the recent records of the missionary
Tfinkdjit
(Anthropos, 1913), it would seem that the modern dream-interpreters of the
Orient
likewise attribute much importance to the co-operation of the dreamer. Of the
dreaminterpreters
among the Mesopotamian Arabs this writer relates as follows: `Pour
interpreter exactement un songe les oniromanciens les plus habiles s'informent
de ceux
qui les consultent de toutes les circonstances qu'ils regardent nécessaires pour
la bonne
explication . . . En un mot, nos oniromanciens ne laissent aucune circonstance
leur
échapper et ne donnent l'interprétation désiré avant d'avoir parfaitement saisi
et reçu
toutes les interrogations désirables.' Among these questions one always finds
demands
for precise information in respect to near relatives (parents, wife, children)
as well as the
following formula: habistine in hac nocte copulam conjugalem ante vel post
somnium? --
`L'idée dominante dans l'interprétation des songes consiste à expliquer le rêve
par son
opposé.'
4 Dr Alfred Robitsek calls my attention to the fact that Oriental dream-books,
of which
ours are pitiful plagiarisms, commonly undertake the interpretation of
dream-elements in
accordance with the assonance and similarity of words. Since these relationships
must be
lost by translation into our language, the incomprehensibility of the
equivalents in our
popular `dream-books' is hereby explained. Information as to the extraordinary
significance of puns and the play upon words in the old Oriental cultures may be
found in
the writings of Hugo Winckler. The finest example of a dream-interpretation
which has
come down to us from antiquity is based on a play upon words. Artemidoros
relates the
following (p. 225): `But it seems to me that Aristandros gave a most happy
interpretation
to Alexander of Macedon. When the latter held Tyros encompassed and in a state
of
siege, and was angry and depressed over the great waste of time, he dreamed that
he saw
a Satyr dancing on his shield. It happened that Aristandros was in the
neighbourhood of
Tyros, and in the escort of the king, who was waging war on the Syrians. By
dividing the
word Satyros into sa and tnroV, he induced the king to become more aggressive in
the
siege. And thus Alexander became master of the city.' (SaTnroV = thine is
Tyros.) The
dream, indeed, is so intimately connected with verbal expression that Ferenczi
justly
remarks that every tongue has its own dream-language. A dream is, as a rule, not
to be
translated into other languages.
5 After the completion of my manuscript, a paper by Stumpf came to my notice
which
agrees with my work in attempting to prove that the dream is full of meaning and
capable
of interpretation. But the interpretation is undertaken by means of an
allegorising
symbolism, and there is no guarantee that the procedure is generally applicable.
6 Selected Papers on Hysteria and other Psychoneuroses. Monograph series, Journ.
of
Nervous and Mental Diseases.
7 However, I will not omit to mention, in qualification of the above statement,
that I have
practically never reported a complete interpretation of a dream of my own. And I
was
probably right not to trust too far to the reader's discretion.
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