The interpretation of dreams about fire justifies a prohibition of the
nursery which forbids children to burn matches in order that they may
not wet the bed at night. They too are based on the reminiscence of
_enuresis nocturnus_ of childhood. In the _Bruchstück einer
Hysterieanalyse_, 1905,[CL] I have given the complete analysis and
synthesis of such a fire-dream in connection with the infantile history
of the dreamer, and have shown to the representation of what emotions
this infantile material has been utilised in maturer years.
It would be possible to cite a considerable number of other “typical”
dreams, if these are understood to refer to the frequent recurrence of
the same manifest dream content in the case of different dreamers, as,
for example: dreams of passing through narrow alleys, of walking through
a whole suite of rooms; dreams of the nocturnal burglar against whom
nervous people direct precautionary measures before going to sleep;
dreams of being chased by wild animals (bulls, horses), or of being
threatened with knives, daggers, and lances. The last two are
characteristic as the manifest dream content of persons suffering from
anxiety, &c. An investigation dealing especially with this material
would be well worth while. In lieu of this I have two remarks to offer,
which, however, do not apply exclusively to typical dreams.
I. The more one is occupied with the solution of dreams, the more
willing one must become to acknowledge that the majority of the dreams
of adults treat of sexual material and give expression to erotic wishes.
Only one who really analyses dreams, that is to say, who pushes forward
from their manifest content to the latent dream thoughts, can form an
opinion on this subject—never the person who is satisfied with
registering the manifest content (as, for example, Näcke in his works on
sexual dreams). Let us recognise at once that this fact is not to be
wondered at, but that it is in complete harmony with the fundamental
assumptions of dream explanation. No other impulse has had to undergo so
much suppression from the time of childhood as the sex impulse in its
numerous components,[CM] from no other impulse have survived so many and
such intense unconscious wishes, which now act in the sleeping state in
such a manner as to produce dreams. In dream interpretation, this
significance of sexual complexes must never be forgotten, nor must they,
of course, be exaggerated to the point of being considered exclusive.
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