.nr LL 6i .nr PO 1i .nr VS 24 .PP I will try to describe my analysis of this dream in the clearest way possible. That means I will not go through the narration of the dream line by line. Nor will I go through the exact line of questioning of the two interviews that occurred after the dream was told to me. Instead, I will piece together elements from the dream narration and the interviews that followed in the hope of arriving at an analysis that is fairly easy to follow. The final analysis is by no means complete; in conclusion I will point out some of the dream elements that have not been accounted for that could further the analysis. .PP Before examining the details of the dream let's consider its general structure. It is clear that there is a transition occurring, the transition from the crowded rooms to the courtyard. This transition seems to be describing a change in the emotional state of the dreamer (Tim). The many connecting rooms are unpleasant to him. At a very material level it is because they are decorated in the Rococo style (which will be important later). But more than that it is because he feels \*Qanxious,\*U he is searching for Ann. However, when he crosses out of the rooms and into the large open area he suddenly feels \*Qrelief\*U and he feels that he is no longer looking for Ann. So at a very general level we see a move from a displeasing to a pleasing emotional state. If we were to stop right here and ignore everything else in the dream, and if we were to try to attach a wish to the dream, we would conclude that the wish was to move from displeasure to pleasure. In fact this is a very general description of the the overall wish that the dream attempts to fulfill, but it certainly fails to reveal anything interesting or specific about the desires of the dreamer.\** .FS Perhaps this is the the underlying infantile wish which gains access into the dream through a more recent and specific wish? .FE If we examine the details of the dream we start to discover the details and the sources of the particular pleasures and displeasures in Tim's life on which the dream is based. .PP We will begin by examining what is probably the most revealing element of the dream, the book that is shown to Tim by the little girl, .I "The Rub\*'aiy\*'at of Omar Khayy\*'am." Of all the elements of the dream this one seems to be the most sexually charged. Because it is described as being \*Qlong and thin\*U it is tempting to interpret it as a phalic symbol. I will not jump to this conclusion, but it will become clear through further investigation that this is a fair conclusion to draw. In the first interview with Tim (there were two, separated by about a week) he told me that he had never read the book, but he associated it with the following things: \*Qlove, carousing, and sensuality in general.\*U He also recalled that he had once seen an illustration of the poet and a woman (the object of the poets love and poetry) sitting under a tree drinking wine together, an image of love and sensuality. Thus the book seems to represent sexuality in its content and specifically male sexuality due to its form.\** .FS It could be argued (and Freud probably would) that the .I "yellow" label on the book further supports its role as a phalic symbol (urine is yellow). I do not put too much weight on it though. .FE .PP When Tim enters the courtyard he reports that he is no longer looking for Ann. This might suggest that Ann is somewhere in the courtyard portion of the dream, disguised somehow. It is not unreasonable to suppose that the little girl is Ann displaced.\** .FS I do not believe that, in this case, the little girl is one Freud's \*Qlittle ones\*U, which are supposed to represent the genitals. .FE In fact Tim drew the connection himself during the first interview. He reported that the day before he had the dream Ann had asked him for help on an ethics paper she was writing. He said he was pleased that she had asked him for help but had the sensation that he was confusing her more than helping her. He finally gave her some \*Qbooks that could help her more than [he] could.\*U The situation in the dream is very similar to the situation of the day before except that in the dream the little girl is presenting Tim with the book, perhaps attributing the helpfulness of the books from waking life to him, putting him in a position of importance. In light of the interpretation we have given to the book up to now, she is also confirming his masculinity and sexuality, giving to him the role of expert in such matters; it is almost an \*Qanti-castration.\*U .PP But then his expertise is completely contradicted by Prof. J's words. Prof. J asserts that Tim has no knowledge of the subject of the book in question, i.e. of sexuality and masculinity. However he also contradicts Tim's masculinity and sexuality in a way other than through his words. When I asked Tim what he thought of the fact that Prof. J had his beard he told me that he thought that in the near future Prof. J would tell him that he should \*Qshave off that ridiculous beard!\*U Before I go further I should point out that Tim grew his beard originally because people were mistaking him for a woman. His beard is therefor a sign of his masculinity. Tim connected the beard and Prof. J with a hypothetical threat by the latter of the removal of the former's masculinity. Going deeper, I asked Tim why he thought Prof. J would say such a thing. He told me that once he had gone to visit Prof. J in his office (to hand in a paper or just to talk) and he (Tim) was wearing an Islamic hat. During their meeting Prof. J said, \*QYou've got to take off that ridiculous hat!\*U It seems clear to me that this event was involved in the dream as a kind of castration, or as I said above, a denial of masculinity and sexuality. This castration is directly opposed to the \*Qanti-castration\*U that I named above through its connection to the Islamic culture. Both the hat and the little girl's book are Islamic, but where the girl is .I "connecting" Tim with the book and all that it embodies (sexuality and masculinity), in the encounter with Prof. J these things are being .I "separated" from him. (The idea that this is representing a kind of castration is further supported if we take into account Freud's observation that hats very often represent genitals in dreams.) So in the image of Prof. J and in the words he speaks to Tim we see an overdetermination of castration, or denial of masculinity and sexuality. .PP Since there exists an opposition in the manifest content of the dream (between the connected rooms and the courtyard) we can expect to find opposition present in more latent elements of the dream. In fact we do. We begin to get some insight into this opposition when we start to exam an element that we've seen twice so far, the \*QIslamic element.\*U In the first interview I asked Tim what he thought of the fact that there were allusions to and representations of Islamic objects in his dream. He said he had been interested in Islamic culture and architecture for quite some time. He then told a story about a trip he took to the sight of an old Mosque that had been torn down and replaced by an \*Qhidious .I "Baroque-Rococo" church\*U; he remembered being upset by the fact that the old mosque had been destroyed and the Rococo church erected. Now we see a more specific and disguised opposition between the two different areas of the dream. If we take the \*QIslamic elements\*U to embody masculinity and sexuality we must suppose that anything in the dream related to the .I "Rococo" rooms must be lacking in these things, whereas things relating to the courtyard are charged with them in some way. Further evidence will support this. .PP Indeed, the elements in the connecting rooms, as they relate to Tim, are feminine and a-sexual (certainly in comparison to the second portion of the dream). He is in a room full of women. Although he describes these women as beautiful and skimpily clothed he says he has no interest in them; that is to say he has no sexual interest in them. Furthermore, they take no interest in him; he is not a sexual object. The Rococo a-sexuality (in contrast to the Islamic sexuality) expresses itself again in these women and Tim's relationship to them. The only other figure in this part of the dream is Mr. N, who was not acting in a stereotypically strong or masculine manner. In my second interview with Tim he informed me that he liked Mr. N a great deal, and that he identified with him. He described him as a gentle, kind man. When I asked Tim what he thought of Mr. N's relationship to women he said he thought that Mr. N was not much interested in sex; he was indifferent to it. We can see that this is much like the indifference towards the beautiful women that Tim expresses in this part of the dream. The a-sexuality and femininity embodied in these rooms should now be clear, all the elements seem to point to it. .PP But what is Tim doing while he is in these rooms? He is trying to get out of the crowd and he wants to find Ann. He is feeling \*Qanxious\*U about his current situation. If he is feeling anxious in this crowd of women who put his masculinity and sexuality into question it is surely by finding Ann and escaping the crowd that he can assert these qualities. This is what happens (or .I "almost" happens) in the second part of the dream, in the courtyard. .PP When he enters the courtyard he has a sense of relief and he is no longer looking for Ann. So he is no longer anxious about his sexual identity. As we have seen, this part of the dream (up to the very end) serves to confirm his masculinity and sexual adequacy.\** .FS Freud would probably consider that the \*Qthree picnic benches\*U is another masculine element, indicating the male genitals. Tim sits down on the center bench, the center of maleness. .FE At first, even Prof. J serves to reassure Tim. Tim feels good that he doesn't care that Prof. J does not greet him. It is only at the very end that Prof. J throws everything into question again. It is only at that moment when the Rococo world is invoked again, and Tim is (metaphorically) castrated. It seems that if we ignore that one element we have a beautifully fulfilled wish. We must suppose that Tim has been worrying about his sexual role (probably in relationship to Ann), and that through his dream he was attempting to see himself as a strong, masculine, sexual figure. Apparently his anxieties would not permit his dream-wish to come true and they had shown themselves in the end by castration through Prof. J (or a threat thereof). Notice that this is where the dream ends, as though it would be too difficult, if not impossible, to fulfill the wish of the dream after castration. .PP Even during the first interview I suspected that there might be some uncertainty on the part of Tim about his relationship with Ann. When I put the question to him (in the first interview) he told me that sometimes he wished he would see more of Ann, but he denied right out that he was dissatisfied with his sex life or doubtful of his sexual performance. Between the time of the first and second interviews I became convinced that he was resisting (not too surprising) and that something was troubling him in his relationship with Ann. There are two relationships implied in the dream (aside from that of Tim and Ann) that converge on the notion \*Quncertainty in a relationship.\*U In the first interview Tim described his relationship with Jill as very good in general, but he was in doubt at the time because he hadn't called her in weeks and she had been trying to get in touch with him through other people and was apparently a little upset with him. He described his relationship with Prof. J as being good as far as his relationships with teachers go, but he thinks his relationship with any teacher is a little strained and fake. Finally, in the second interview, Tim blushed and in very agitated manner admitted that he had been feeling frustrated in his relationship to Ann, that she had been getting annoyed at him, and he wanted to know what he was supposed to do so that she would want to spend more time with him. He said he also worried sometimes about his sexual performance. At this point Tim looked very upset, and, as I wanted to remain his friend, I didn't push the issue. I had enough information to be confident that his desire to be secure and confident, sexually and otherwise, in his relationship with Ann was a strong motivating factor in his dream. .PP Although I have shown what role a large number of the dream elements play, and how they connect to more latent elements, I have not always shown why these elements should have been prefered over others to be represented in the manifest content. I would like to do that briefly now for most of the elements. .PP The day before the dream Tim found out that Jill was going to come visit him in a weeks time (from D.C.) for a weekend. This pleased Tim, but also recalled to him that he had not been good in his end of the relationship (see above). It would not be surprising if just the excitement of Jill's visit alone would make her part of the dream, but the \*Qrelationship\*U connection makes her appearance even more likely. .PP The whole context of the dream is that of a wedding. The only connections I found were 1) Tim had been to a wedding with Jill a few months before. 2) Marriage could embody the kind of security and confidence that Tim is searching for in his dream. .PP Prof. J is the most interresting to me since he is the one who prohibits the wish from being fulfilled. Or does he? Perhaps the wish is fulfilled when the little girl asks for help and afterwards the reality of Tim's doubts returns \*Qall of a sudden.\*U It is as though the wish had been fulfilled and the censorship relaxed, allowing the reality of Tim's doubts to suddenly resurface. In fact, Prof. J is a double agent. The censor lets him through because, at first, he helps affirm Tim's strength. The previous day Tim had walked by Prof. J and greeted him, but Prof. J did not reply and Tim was not sure if Prof. J had seen him or not, but he felt humiliated none the less. Of all his teachers, Tim felt closest to him, so he did not seem to be too much of a threat to the censorship. By letting him in the dream is able to recreate the scene from the day before, but this time Tim does not let himself be effected by Prof. J's refusal to greet him; his strength is confirmed. But when the censorship relaxes the anxieties find an outlet through Prof. J (it is in this way that he is overdetermined). At this point the censorship is shocked into terminating the dream.