Freud II: The Irma Dream

A patient with the code-name Irma... a diseased throat... a dirty syringe. Is this medical pulp fiction? No, these are details from the sample dream that Freud uses to demonstrate his method of dream interpretation. From this one dream of the doctor springs his entire theory about the general meaning underlying every human dream: a dream is the fulfillment of a wish.

Podcast Lecture: The Somniloquy

Reading:

Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams: Ch. 2

Questions:

1. How is Freud's theory of dream radical, in his view?

2. Which two popular methods of dream interpretation does he discredit? Why are they unscientific in his view?

3. What are the particulars of Freud's method of dream interpretation? What is the role of the analyst? What is the ideal condition of the individual reporting the dream?

4. How does Freud interpret his dream of Irma?

5. What general rule about dreams does Freud derive from his sample dream analysis?

Activities:

Freud and You: This is an activity that you can start now, and revise as you continue to read Freud and deepen your understanding of his dream theory. Take one of the dreams that you've recorded in your dream journal, and analyze it using the method that Freud demonstrates with the Irma dream. (Remember to break it down into small parts and to free associate on each detail.) Then evaluate the process. Does the analysis uncover, as Freud says it must, the fulfillment of a wish?

Watch "Young Dr. Freud" (PBS 2002): This is an excellent documentary on Freud's life leading up to the publication of The Interpretation of Dreams. It explains in detail how Freud came to study dreams as part of his work on the rampant female disease of the fin de siecle: hysteria.