Freud\'s Interpretation of Dreams Sigmund Freud\'s 1908

Freud's Interpretation Of Dreams

Sigmund Freud's 1908 work, The Interpretation of Dreams, is his attempt to place apply the psychological analysis to the study of dreams. The work relies heavily upon Freud's understanding of how the unconscious and conscious mind control both the meaning and interpretation of dreams. To Freud, the dream is often a means of wish-fulfillment, where the content of dreams represents the unconscious desires (wishes) of the dreamer. Dream content can be understood in terms of both the "manifest" (literal and conscious) meaning, and the "latent" (unconscious and symbolic) meaning. Freud argued that ultimately dreams act as an important window into the unconscious workings of the human mind.

Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams is an important attempt to reconcile the distorted, surreal world of dreams with our conscious lives and scientific understanding. The world of dreams is often distorted and disturbing, and difficult to understand with our rational, conscious selves. Fontana notes, "We live in two worlds, the waking world with its laws of science, logic and social behavior, and the elusive, mysterious world of dreaming. In the dream world, fantastic happenings, images and transformations are normal currency. Such dream experiences are often suffused with a depth of emotion or visionary insight that can surpass waking experience" (11).

Freud's analysis of dreams marked an important milestone in the scientific and psychological analysis of dreams, and marked the beginning of modern dream study. Fontana notes that historically dreams were seen as spiritual or religious in nature. Most cultures "believed that dreams come from an outside source and are visitations from the gods" and that "horrifying apparitions that emerge in nightmares were interpreted as demons intent on seducing the innocent" (Fontana, 11). Freud himself notes that importance of dreams in traditional cultures as socially significant and as revealers of personal problems or prophecy.

In this work, Freud investigates the nature of dreams in the context of his understanding of psychoanalysis and the unconscious mind. He incorporates ideas about childhood experiences, the "hieroglyphic" nature of dreams, and the use of psychoanalysis in interpreting and bringing meaning to dreams.

In The Interpretation of Dreams, one of Freud's aims is to apply psychological analysis to the study of dreams. In the beginning of chapter one, Freud promises to "demonstrate that there is a psychological technique which makes it possible to interpret dreams, and that on the application of this technique every dream will reveal itself as a psychological structure, full of significance, and one which may be assigned to a specific place in the psychic activities of the waking state."

Freud's understanding of dreams lies heavily in an understanding of the distinction between the conscious and unconscious mind. He argued that the unconscious mind was the under the surface working of the psyche, while the conscious mind is represented by intellect and reason. Freud saw dreams as originating in the subconscious mind, where "repressed instincts and desires dwell" (Fontana, 12).

To Freud, there are two levels of meaning in dreams that are closely related to his understanding of the conscious and unconscious mind. The first is the manifest, or surface level of dream content. This level of dream content can be easily described by the dreamer upon waking. The second level of dream content is the latent or unconscious meaning of the dream. This unconscious level of dreaming was expressed through the special language of dreaming. The latent meaning can only be revealed after analysis of the subconscious meaning of the dream.

Freud puts forward the ideas of condensation and displacement are put forth as crucial to understanding the hidden or latent content of the dream. To Freud, condensation is the fusing of two or more symbols into a single symbol of latent content. A complex desire to have a child may be condensed into the simplistic latent image of a baby carriage.

In contrast, displacement is an association of symbols that are seemingly disconnected. The dreamer represses an urge driven by the id, and that urge is directed to another object or individual. For example, a dreamer may dream that his or her father is killed by a passing bus. In this case, the death by the bus is a displaced symbol of the person's desire that his or her father should die. The Id's wish to have the father die is clearly repulsive to the Superego, and is repressed (or censored) by the dreamer, and displaced into a dream where the father dies by other means.

In the text of The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud often uses his own dreams as examples of the analysis and application of his theories on the psychology underlying dreams. As an example of wish fulfillment, Freud describes a dream where he was "out of bed and standing at the wash-stand," which represents his wish to be awake. Other dreams reveal Freud's professional wishes and conflicts, as well as his feelings about treating people who are family or personal friends.

The Interpretation of Dreams deals extensively with Freud's ideas about the nature of dreams as wish fulfillment. Freud argues that dreams act as a mechanism for the dreamer to 'act out' their desires and wishes. As such, a dream represents a fulfillment of a dreamer's wish. As such, all dreams represent unconscious desires, even dreams that appear as nightmares and anxiety dreams.

To Freud, dreams are the wish fulfillment manifestations of the Id, which is the most primitive and instinctual part of the unconscious mind. It drives urges of aggression and sexuality, and the need for release. The Id is contrasted with the Superego, which is a basic ethical and moral agent that internalizes the world view of ethics and morals, opposes the selfish desires of the Id. The Ego is a conscious sense of self that acts as an agent that balances the needs of the Id and Superego.

To Freud, "censorship" plays an important part in the distortion of the content of dreams. Censorship occurs when the mind imposes meaning and order on dream content. This is often the work of the Superego imposing morality and order upon the selfish sexual and aggressive desires of the Id that appear as the subconscious mind creates the content of the dream. What often seems to be trivial and nonsensical in a dream can be revealed as coherent and intelligent through careful analysis.