Introduction & Overview of The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud

The Interpretation of Dreams Introduction

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is universally considered the "father" of psychoanalysis, and many date the birth of psychoanalytic theory from the 1899 publication of The Interpretation of Dreams (copyright 1900). Although Freudian theory, since its inception, has been relentlessly attacked from all sides, critics and proponents alike agree that Freud's ideas have exerted a profound influence on twentieth-century thought and culture.

Throughout The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud analyzes his own dreams as examples to prove his new theory of the psychology of dreams. Freud makes a distinction between the "manifest," or surface-level, dream content and the "latent," or unconscious, "dream thoughts" expressed through the special "language" of dreams. He posits that all dreams represent the fulfillment of a wish on the part of the dreamer and maintains that even anxiety dreams and nightmares are expressions of unconscious desires. Freud explains that the process of "censorship" in dreams causes a "distortion"...
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