36 pages 1 hour read

Sigmund Freud

On Dreams

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1901

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Important Quotes

Quotation Mark Icon

 “In what we may term ‘prescientific days’ people were in no uncertainty about the interpretation of dreams. When they were recalled after awakening they were regarded as either the friendly or hostile manifestation of some higher powers, demoniacal and Divine.”


(Chapter 1, Page 21)

Freud asserts that dreams are subject to analysis, rejecting the idea that they are imparted by heavenly figures. Instead, dreams are about wish fulfillment, contributing to the theme of Dreams as Expressions of Desire. For Freud, dreams represent erotic desires left over from infantile sexuality.

Quotation Mark Icon

“Before all there is the question as to the meaning of the dream, a question which is in itself double-sided.”


(Chapter 1, Page 21)

Dreams are double-sided because they represent the physical world and the unconscious mind. Dreams are influenced by the outside world, but they also present unconscious desires. They consist of myriad symbols, which can have multiple interpretations and meanings.

Quotation Mark Icon

“Obsessions and those peculiar sensations of haunting dread remain as strange to normal consciousness as do dreams to our waking consciousness; their origin is as unknown to consciousness as is that of dreams.”


(Chapter 2, Page 25)

Dreams undergo a process of condensation or compression and then are filtered through censorship. Freud asserts that repressed desires are unknown to consciousness and that the mind transfers desire into various symbols. This quotation contributes to the theme Repression and the Unconscious. Erotic desires are repressed, especially those that are deemed inappropriate or against social norms. They are housed in the unconscious mind but sometimes manage to escape the process of censorship.

Related Titles

By Sigmund Freud

Study Guide

logo

Beyond the Pleasure Principle

Sigmund Freud

Beyond the Pleasure Principle

Sigmund Freud

Study Guide

logo

Civilization And Its Discontents

Sigmund Freud

Civilization And Its Discontents

Sigmund Freud

Plot Summary

logo

Moses and Monotheism

Sigmund Freud

Moses and Monotheism

Sigmund Freud

Plot Summary

logo

The Freud Reader

Sigmund Freud

The Freud Reader

Sigmund Freud

Study Guide

logo

The Future of an Illusion

Sigmund Freud

The Future of an Illusion

Sigmund Freud

Study Guide

logo

The Interpretation of Dreams

Sigmund Freud

The Interpretation of Dreams

Sigmund Freud

Study Guide

logo

The Uncanny

Sigmund Freud

The Uncanny

Sigmund Freud

Study Guide

logo

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

Sigmund Freud

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

Sigmund Freud