Quaint Dreams In Robert Southey's Grosvenor Gay
This is about the “quaint dreams' Robert Southey wrote to his friend Grosvenor Bedford in September 1797” (Speck 203). I find dreams fascinating, although I do not believe that they can really be interpreted with any real accuracy. Unlike Southey, who was very proud, Speck explains, to tell his school friends that his mother taught him how to interpret dreams. I think it is interesting to highlight the fact that Southey seemed to almost apply self-censorship to his discussion of dreams, as he does not really mention sex or eroticism. I found the nature of comparing Southey’s dreams to the study at the Santa Cruz Dreambank to be really interesting. I think Freud in general has had a lot of outlandish ideas and theories that although some have
gained merit, are mostly exaggerated and disproven. Speck notes that, “Freud exaggerated the erotic nature of dreams, for only about twelve per cent of the male dreamers in the Santa Cruz dreambank had sexual aspirations in their dreams, while fewer than six per cent had explicit erotic experiences. Moreover a mere 0.2 per cent of males and females dreamed of umbrellas, which to Freud were phallic symbols” (206). Despite Southey ‘refraining’ from dreaming erotic dreams, he did dream quite a bit about death. According to Speck, 1/3 of Southey’s dreams dealt with death, dying, or places and things associated with death. I found this interesting, because it is almost as if Southey thought that sex and eroticism was more taboo and ‘wrong’ than something as morbid as death. Although in modern times this seems counterintuitive, as I would argue, death is more controversial than sex – perhaps in the Romantic period this was not as much the case. Death is a common topic in Romantic literature, which is perhaps way Southey chose to discuss dreams on the subject, and omit those of erotic nature.
gained merit, are mostly exaggerated and disproven. Speck notes that, “Freud exaggerated the erotic nature of dreams, for only about twelve per cent of the male dreamers in the Santa Cruz dreambank had sexual aspirations in their dreams, while fewer than six per cent had explicit erotic experiences. Moreover a mere 0.2 per cent of males and females dreamed of umbrellas, which to Freud were phallic symbols” (206). Despite Southey ‘refraining’ from dreaming erotic dreams, he did dream quite a bit about death. According to Speck, 1/3 of Southey’s dreams dealt with death, dying, or places and things associated with death. I found this interesting, because it is almost as if Southey thought that sex and eroticism was more taboo and ‘wrong’ than something as morbid as death. Although in modern times this seems counterintuitive, as I would argue, death is more controversial than sex – perhaps in the Romantic period this was not as much the case. Death is a common topic in Romantic literature, which is perhaps way Southey chose to discuss dreams on the subject, and omit those of erotic nature.