Childhood Hostility and the Death Dream

The Interpretation of Dreams

This thread traces Freud's interpretation of dreams about dead relatives as expressions of childhood rivalry and attachment.

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Bearing strength in each event

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A Disturbing Dream A Disturbing Dream from "The Interpretation of Dreams". A Disturbing Dream Death in the dream Dreamers report seeing siblings, parents, or children dead.

A Disturbing Dream from "The Interpretation of Dreams". A Disturbing Dream Death in the dream Dreamers report seeing siblings, parents, or children dead.

A Disturbing Dream Death in the dream Dreamers report seeing siblings, parents, or children dead. Some experience grief; others wake surprised by their lack of sorrow. Meaning cannot be assumed Freud insists that the dream's manifest death scene must be distinguished from its latent wish and emotional sources.

The Sibling as Rival The Sibling as Rival from "The Interpretation of Dreams". The Sibling as Rival Displaced attention A new child can threaten an older child's position in the household.

The Sibling as Rival from "The Interpretation of Dreams". The Sibling as Rival Displaced attention A new child can threaten an older child's position in the household.

The Sibling as Rival Displaced attention A new child can threaten an older child's position in the household. Freud describes jealousy and hostility alongside tenderness. A child's idea of death For a young child, being dead can resemble being absent, making the dream's wish less equivalent to adult murderous intent.

A Lost Love Reappears A Lost Love Reappears from "The Interpretation of Dreams". A Lost Love Reappears A coffin as a setting A young woman dreams of a child lying dead in a coffin, recalling an earlier nephew's funeral.

A Lost Love Reappears from "The Interpretation of Dreams". A Lost Love Reappears A coffin as a setting A young woman dreams of a child lying dead in a coffin, recalling an earlier nephew's funeral.

A Lost Love Reappears A coffin as a setting A young woman dreams of a child lying dead in a coffin, recalling an earlier nephew's funeral. Freud finds that the scene conceals a wish to see a former beloved again. Grief belongs elsewhere The manifest death does not express the dreamer's present wish to harm the surviving child.

The Parent as Opponent The Parent as Opponent from "The Interpretation of Dreams". The Parent as Opponent Authority and rivalry Freud describes conflicts between children and parents over affection, independence, and authority.

The Parent as Opponent from "The Interpretation of Dreams". The Parent as Opponent Authority and rivalry Freud describes conflicts between children and parents over affection, independence, and authority.

The Parent as Opponent Authority and rivalry Freud describes conflicts between children and parents over affection, independence, and authority. These tensions can persist beneath later reverence. A broad claim He argues that dreams of a parent's death may draw on early wishes, a controversial extension of his theory.

Tragedy and Repression Tragedy and Repression from "The Interpretation of Dreams". Tragedy and Repression Myth made dramatic Freud reads the Oedipus story as the dramatization of wishes that audiences recoil from recognizing in themselves.

Tragedy and Repression from "The Interpretation of Dreams". Tragedy and Repression Myth made dramatic Freud reads the Oedipus story as the dramatization of wishes that audiences recoil from recognizing in themselves.

Tragedy and Repression Myth made dramatic Freud reads the Oedipus story as the dramatization of wishes that audiences recoil from recognizing in themselves. Conflict unresolved The interpretation links familial hostility to culture and literature while exposing the costs of turning one model into a universal rule.

During Freud's discussion of typical dreams

In Freud's account of early childhood

During the analysis of the dead nephew dream

In the discussion of parental death dreams

At the close of the Oedipus discussion