Dream Children; a Reverie Autobiography
Let's first talk about dreams for this analytical article. Well, a dream is a collection of story-like images which a person experiences during sleep. According to Freud, these experiences are results of one's unconscious desires, and a person sees what he/she wishes unconsciously in life. So, Lamb, in "Dream Children; a Reverie", saw a day-dream about his children, wife, brother, and grandmother etc. This dream reflects his unconscious desires for a family and responsible brother and also represents some sweet memories of his childhood.
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When an author writes about his/her real-life incidents in an article; then, the article is called an autobiography, and he/she is called an autobiographical author. So, Lamb is also an autobiographical writer for Dream Children; a Reverie and some autobiographical elements of this essay are:
1. Alice:
Alice is the dream daughter of Lamb who resembles her mother (Alice W-n) and signifies the author's desire for marrying Ann (his real lady love).
2. John:
John is also a dream child of Lamb who plays the role of his son and indicates his wish for having children.
3. John-L:
John-L represents Alice and John's uncle in Lamb's dream. Also, he signifies James Lamb (Lamb's real brother).
4. Mrs. Field:
Mrs Field represents Lamb's real-life grandmother. Lamb used to spend his holidays with her during his childhood. In his dream, he also tells about that grandmother to his dream children.
5. Alice W-n:
Alice W-n is representative of Ann. Ann is the lady-love of Lamb whom he proposed for marriage, but she rejected him for a guy called Bartrum.
6. Great house in Norfolk:
The residence of Mrs Field was huge in Norfolk, and she was its housekeeper. She used to live there happily and alone as narrated by the author in front of his dream children. Also, the narrator told his children that he spent many days in that house and its attached garden during some vacation for refreshment.
7. Death of John-L:
The demise of John-L in Lamb's dream represents the passing away of Lamb's real brother called James Lamb. Also, the author was deeply saddened at his brother's death and used to miss him a lot.
8. The seven years:
The idea of the period of seven years in the dream-story signifies the seven years of Lamb and Ann's love-affair.
9. Bartrum:
Bartrum is the man whom Ann married after rejecting Lamb's proposal of marriage. At the end of the story, Lamb listens to his dream-children who tell him that they are not his and Alice's children, the father of Alice's children is Bartrum, and they are not children themselves as well.
10. Lame-footed boy:
The lame-footed child in the story represents Lamb's real-life mentally sick sister, Mary Lamb. Also, the author narrates his dream children that their uncle John-L used to take care of that lame-footed boy. So, the writer's saying about taking care of that boy by his elder brother signifies his wish to have a responsible brother for their sister.
Introduction of Lamb:
Charles Lamb (1775-1834) was a British author, poet, and essayist. His best-known works include Essays of Elia and children's book tales from Shakespeare. His pen name was James Elia. In the book of Essays of Elia, a non-fictional essay, Dream Children; Reverie, is present which is very popular due to its autobiographical nature.
Conclusion:
Therefore, it can be said that Dream Children; a Reverie's elements such as Mrs Field, John L-, and Lame-footed boy indicate Lamb's autobiographical elements.
That's all what I wanted to share about Dream Children; a Reverie autobiography. Thanks for being here. And do subscribe my blog for future updates.