The Interpretation of Dreams

THE INTERPRETATION

subjected to future elaboration if there should be sucient time and energy, and if further material should be
forthcoming.

OF DREAMS
BY

Peculiarities in the material I have used to elucidate the

interpretation of dreams have rendered this publication
dicult. From the work itself it will appear why all
AUTHORISED TRANSLATION OF THIRD
dreams related in the literature or collected by others had
EDITION
to remain useless for my purpose; for examples I had
WITH INTRODUCTION
to choose between my own dreams and those of my patients who were under psychoanalytic treatment. I was
BY
restrained from utilising the latter material by the fact
A. A. BRILL, Ph.B., M.D.
that in it the dream processes were subjected to an unCHIEF OF THE NEUROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT desirable complication on account of the intermixture of
OF THE BRONX HOSPITAL AND DISPENSARY
neurotic characters. On the other hand, inseparably connected with my own dreams was the circumstance that I
CLINICAL ASSISTANT IN NEUROLOGY AND
was obliged to expose more of the intimacies of my psyPSYCHIATRY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
chic life than I should like and than generally falls to the
FORMER ASSISTANT PHYSICIAN IN THE
task of an author who is not a poet but an investigator
CENTRAL ISLIP STATE HOSPITAL
of nature. This was painful, but unavoidable; I had to
AND IN THE CLINIC OF PSYCHIATRY, ZRICH put up with the inevitable in order not to be obliged to
forego altogether the demonstration of the truth of my
Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo
psychological results. To be sure, I could not at best resist the temptation of disguising some of my indiscretions
NEW YORK
through omissions and substitutions, and as often as this
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
happened it detracted materially from the value of the
1913
examples which I employed. I can only express the hope
that the reader of this work, putting himself in my diINTRODUCTORY REMARKS
cult position, will show forbearance, and also that all persons who are inclined to take oence at any of the dreams
In attempting a discussion of the Interpretation of reported will concede freedom of thought at least to the
Dreams, I do not believe that I have overstepped the dream life.
bounds of neuropathological interest. For, on psychological investigation, the dream proves to be the rst link PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
in a chain of abnormal psychic structures whose other If there has arisen a demand for a second edition of this
links, the hysterical phobia, the obsession, and the delu- rather dicult book before the end of the rst decade, I
sion must, for practical reasons, claim the interest of the owe no gratitude to the interest of the professional circles
physician. The dream (as will appear) can lay no claim to whom I appealed in the preceding sentences. My colto a corresponding practical signicance; its theoretical leagues in psychiatry, apparently, have made no eort to
value as a paradigm is, however, all the greater, and one shake o the rst surprise which my new conception of
who cannot explain the origin of the dream pictures will the dream evoked, and the professional philosophers, who
strive in vain to understand the phobias, obsessive and are accustomed to treat the problem of dream life as a
delusional ideas, and likewise their therapeutic impor- part of the states of consciousness, devoting to it a few
tance.
for the most part identicalsentences, have apparently
But this relation, to which our subject owes its impor- failed to observe that in this eld could be found all kinds
tance, is responsible also for the deciencies in the work of things which would inevitably lead to a thorough transbefore us. The surfaces of fracture which will be found so formation of our psychological theories. The behaviour
frequently in this discussion correspond to so many points of the scientic critics could only justify the expectation
of contact at which the problem of the dream formation that this work of mine was destined to be buried in oblivtouches more comprehensive problems of psychopathol- ion; and the small troop of brave pupils who follow my
ogy, which cannot be discussed here, and which will be leadership in the medical application of psychoanalysis,
Prof. Dr. SIGMUND FREUD, LL.D.

2
and also follow my example in analysing dreams in order to utilise these analyses in the treatment of neurotics,
would not have exhausted the rst edition of the book. I
therefore feel indebted to that wider circle of intelligent
seekers after truth whose co-operation has procured for
me the invitation to take up anew, after nine years, the
dicult and in so many respects fundamental work.
I am glad to be able to say that I have found little to
change. Here and there I have inserted new material,
added new views from my wider experience, and attempted to revise certain points; but everything essential concerning the dream and its interpretation, as well
as the psychological propositions derived from it, has remained unchanged: at least, subjectively, it has stood the
test of time. Those who are acquainted with my other
works on the Etiology and Mechanism of the psychoneuroses, know that I have never oered anything unnished
as nished, and that I have always striven to change my
assertions in accordance with my advancing views; but in
the realm of the dream life I have been able to stand by my
rst declarations. During the long years of my work on
the problems of the neuroses, I have been repeatedly confronted with doubts, and have often made mistakes; but it
was always in the interpretation of dreams that I found
my bearings. My numerous scientic opponents, therefore, show an especially sure instinct when they refuse to
follow me into this territory of dream investigation.
Likewise, the material used in this book to illustrate the
rules of dream interpretation, drawn chiey from dreams
of my own which have been depreciated and outstripped
by events, have in the revision shown a persistence which
resisted substantial changes. For me, indeed, the book
has still another subjective meaning which I could comprehend only after it had been completed. It proved to be
for me a part of my self-analysis, a reaction to the death
of my fatherthat is, to the most signicant event, the
deepest loss, in the life of a man. After I recognised this
I felt powerless to eace the traces of this inuence. For
the reader, however, it makes no dierence from what
material he learns to value and interpret dreams.
Berchtesgaden, Summer of 1908.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
Whereas a period of nine years elapsed between the rst
and second editions of this book, the need for a third edition has appeared after little more than a year. I have
reason to be pleased with this change; but, just as I have
not considered the earlier neglect of my work on the part
of the reader as a proof of its unworthiness, I am unable
to nd in the interest manifested at present a proof of its
excellence.
The progress in scientic knowledge has shown its inuence on the Interpretation of Dreams. When I wrote it in
1899 the Sexual Theories was not yet in existence, and
the analysis of complicated forms of psychoneuroses was

still in its infancy. The interpretation of dreams was destined to aid in the psychological analysis of the neuroses,
but since then the deeper understanding of the neuroses
has reacted on our conception of the dream. The study
of dream interpretation itself has continued to develop in
a direction upon which not enough stress was laid in the
rst edition of this book. From my own experience, as
well as from the works of W. Stekel and others, I have
since learned to attach a greater value to the extent and
the signicance of symbolism in dreams (or rather in the
unconscious thinking). Thus much has accumulated in
the course of this year which requires consideration. I
have endeavoured to do justice to this new material by numerous insertions in the text and by the addition of footnotes. If these supplements occasionally threaten to warp
the original discussion, or if, even with their aid, we have
been unsuccessful in raising the original text to the niveau
of our present views, I must beg indulgence for the gaps in
the book, as they are only consequences and indications
of the present rapid development of our knowledge. I also
venture to foretell in what other directions later editions
of the Interpretation of Dreamsin case any should be
demandedwill dier from the present one. They will
have, on the one hand, to include selections from the rich
material of poetry, myth, usage of language, and folklore,
and, on the other hand, to treat more profoundly the relations of the dream to the neuroses and to mental diseases.
Mr. Otto Rank has rendered me valuable service in the
selection of the addenda and in reading the proof sheets.
I am gratefully indebted to him and to many others for
their contributions and corrections.
Vienna, Spring of 1911.
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
Since the appearance of the authors Selected Papers on
Hysteria and other Psychoneuroses, and Three Contributions to the Sexual Theory,[1] much has been said and written about Freuds works. Some of our readers have made
an honest endeavour to test and utilise the authors theories, but they have been handicapped by their inability
to read uently very dicult German, for only two of
Freuds works have hitherto been accessible to English
readers. For them this work will be of invaluable assistance. To be sure, numerous articles on the Freudian
psychology have of late made their appearance in our
literature;[2] but these scattered papers, read by those unacquainted with the original work, often serve to confuse
rather than enlighten. For Freud cannot be mastered from
the reading of a few pamphlets, or even one or two of
his original works. Let me repeat what I have so often said: No one is really qualied to use or to judge
Freuds psychoanalytic method who has not thoroughly
mastered his theory of the neurosesThe Interpretation
of Dreams, Three Contributions to the Sexual Theory, The
Psychopathology of Everyday Life, and Wit and its Relation to the Unconscious, and who has not had considerable

3
experience in analysing the dreams and psychopathological actions of himself and others. That there is required
also a thorough training in normal and abnormal psychology goes without saying.
The Interpretation of Dreams is the authors greatest and
most important work; it is here that he develops his psychoanalytic technique, a thorough knowledge of which
is absolutely indispensable for every worker in this eld.
The dicult task of making a translation of this work
has, therefore, been undertaken primarily for the purpose
of assisting those who are actively engaged in treating
patients by Freuds psychoanalytic method. Considered
apart from its practical aim, the book presents much that
is of interest to the psychologist and the general reader.
For, notwithstanding the fact that dreams have of late
years been the subject of investigation at the hands of
many competent observers, only few have contributed
anything tangible towards their solution; it was Freud who
divested the dream of its mystery, and solved its riddles.
He not only showed us that the dream is full of meaning,
but amply demonstrated that it is intimately connected
with normal and abnormal mental life. It is in the treatment of the abnormal mental states that we must recognise the most important value of dream interpretation.
The dream does not only reveal to us the cryptic mechanisms of hallucinations, delusions, phobias, obsessions,
and other psychopathological conditions, but it is also the
most potent instrument in the removal of these.[3]
I take this opportunity of expressing my indebtedness to
Professor F. C. Prescott for reading the manuscript and
for helping me overcome the almost insurmountable difculties in the translation.
A. A. BRILL.
New York City.
1. Translated by A. A. Brill (Journal of Nervous and
Mental Disease Publishing Company).
2. Cf. the works of Ernest Jones, James J. Putnam,
the present writer, and others.
3. For examples demonstrating these facts, cf. my
work, Psychoanalysis; its Theories and Practical Application, W. B. Saunders Publishing Company,
Philadelphia & London.
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
This work is a translation and has a separate
copyright status to the applicable copyright protections
of the original content.
Original:

This work is in the public domain in the United States

because it was published before January 1, 1923.
The author died in 1939, so this work is also in the public
domain in countries and areas where the copyright term
is the authors life plus 75 years or less. This work may
also be in the public domain in countries and areas with
longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the
shorter term to foreign works.
Translation:

This work is in the public domain in the United States

because it was published before January 1, 1923.
The author died in 1948, so this work is also in the public
domain in countries and areas where the copyright term
is the authors life plus 60 years or less. This work may
also be in the public domain in countries and areas with
longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the
shorter term to foreign works.

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