Analysis of Lamb's essay "Dream Children"

Dream Children – A Reverie

By Charles Lamb

Analysis

Dreams are the series of story like images we experience as we sleep. Some people remember dreams frequently, sometimes more than one per night, while others are not aware of whether we dream or not. Some of us even report lucid dreams in which we are aware that we are dreaming and can control the storyline of the dream.

Sigmund Freud considered dreams an important tool in his therapy. Freudian psychoanalysis emphasizes dream interpretation as a method to uncover the repressed information in the unconscious mind. Freud said that dreams were wish fulfilling, meaning that in our dreams we act out our unconscious desires. Freud thought that even during sleep, our ego protected us from the material in the unconscious mind (thus the term protected sleep) by presenting these repressed desires in the form of symbols. So showing up naked at school would represent a symbol in this type of analysis, perhaps of vulnerability or anxiety. Likewise, Lamb’s dream of two children, his brother, and the lame-footed boy reflect Lamb’s wishes to have a family, and a supportive, responsible brother.

Lamb’s Biography:

Charles Lamb has been acclaimed by common consent as the Prince among English essayist. Charles Lamb was an important English poet and literary critic of Welsh origin. He was born in London on February 10th 1775. As an expert of the Shakespearean period as well as an author of talent, Lamb would come to be considered one of the most significant literary critics of his time. Moreover, Lamb would be celebrated for his simple, yet not simplistic, personal reflections on daily life, which would always be supplemented with a distinctive sense of both humor and tragedy. Lamb’s two most famous works were to be Essays of Elia, and, Tales from Shakespeare, in fact a children’s book. He would actually write the latter in collaboration with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764 - 1847). Charles Lamb also had an older brother, John, named after their father, as well as four other brothers and sisters who would not survive their infancy. Lamb would come to be described by his main biographer, E.V. Lucas, as the most touching character in English literature.

Lamb’s parents were Elizabeth Field and John Lamb. The father was a clerk for a lawyer. Years later Charles would write a kind of biographical portrait of him in a piece entitled “Elia on the Old Benchers” and would refer to him by the name of “Lovel”.

Charles Lamb would become a close friend of the famous British philosopher, literary critic and poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834). In fact Lamb’s first published work would be four sonnets which would be included in the 1796 Poems on Various Subjects by Coleridge. And yet because Lamb had a stutter he would not only be disqualified at boarding school for a clerical career, but while Coleridge and others would be able to go on to university, Lamb stopped his schooling at the age of 14. Notwithstanding this would not prevent Lamb to become an important member, and indeed to play an important part in a circle of famous authors. This included important literary figures such as poet William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850), essayist and poet Leigh Hunt (1784 - 1859), writer and literary critic William Hazlitt (1778 - 1830) as well as poet Robert Southey (1774 - 1843).

In 1819 at the age of 44, Lamb had never married mostly because of his commitment to his troubled family. Together with his sister Charles would write the famous Tales of Shakespeare, a collection of 20 tales inspired by the eminent playwright. Published in 1807 this book remains to this day a classic of British literature for youth. The first publisher of the work was the British journalist, political philosopher and novelist William Godwin (1756 - 1836), husband of the English philosopher and one of the first advocate of women’s right Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 - 1797), and also father of British writer Mary Shelley (1797 - 1851). The book was to be constantly reprinted to this day and was even finally illustrated for the first time in 1899 by Arthur Rackham (1867 - 1939). The work would also be translated into several languages and thus made available across the globe.

In a very real sense, while in his lifetime Lamb was encouraged by many for his hard work in literature, he actually enjoyed very little appreciation for his unique talent while he was alive. Not surprisingly perhaps, he would thus go through difficult moments of doubt with regards to his work and seriously seems to have wondered about his ability to write anything worth mentioning. In fact, in similar ways to his sister, Mary, he too would suffer episodes of psychological illness. Be that as it may, Charles Lamb left us with a very rich legacy of work ranging from short stories, essays, poetry, even plays, as well as letters filled with his exceptional intimate style and humor. Lamb would succumb of an infection he would unfortunately contract from a minor cut on his face after having fallen in the street, in fact only several months after Coleridge. Charles Lamb would die at Edmonton, a suburb of London on December 27th 1834 at the age of 59. He is buried at All Saints Churchyard, also in Edmonton. Mary, his sister would survive him by more than a decade and would be buried next to him. It is interesting to note that in 1849, 15 years after Lamb’s death, the French author EugèneForcade (1820 - 1869) would describe Lamb as having been of an eminently friendly nature, an original writer, a kind of hero constantly caring for his poor sister.

Biographical elements of Lamb’s life in Dream Children:

ž Alice:

Alice is a little girl in Lamb’s dream, whom he sees as his daughter. She is described to have “put out one of her dear mother’s looks”. Alice depicts Lamb’s real life wish of having kids from Ann.

ž John:

John is a little boy in Lamb’s dream, whom he sees as his son. Like Alice, John also represents Lamb’s wish of having children.

ž John L – :

John L – is another person who appeared in Lamb’s dream. He appeared as Alice’s and John’s uncle. John represents Lam’s real brother James Lamb.

ž Grandmother Field:

Great-grandmother Field is Lamb’s grandmother in his dream, about whom he tells stories to his dream children. The grandmother represents Lamb’s real life grandmother, with whom he used to spend his holidays.

ž Alice W – n:

Alice W – n is a character in Lamb’s dream who is representative of Ann; the lady to who Lamb proposed and wanted to marry in his real life. However, Ann rejected Lamb’s proposal.

ž Great house in Norfolk:

The great house in Norfolk is the house where great-grandmother Field appears to live as narrated by Lamb in his dream. The house reflects Lamb’s grandmother’s house where he used to spend his vacations and enjoyed a lot.

ž Death of John L –:

The death of John L – in Lamb’s dream story depicts the death of his real brother. Lamb was deeply sorrowed at his brother’s death and used to miss him.

ž Seven long years:

The idea of “seven long years” in the story which Lamb narrates to his dream children depicts the seven years of Lamb’s and Ann’s love affair.

ž Bartrum:

After rejecting Lamb’s proposal of marriage, Ann married a man whose name was Bartrum. In his dream, Lamb hears the children saying that they were not Lamb’s and Ann’s off springs; rather they were Bartrum’s and Ann’s children.

ž Lame-footed boy:

The lame-footed boy in Lamb’s dream story depicts his sister who was mentally retarded. Lamb tells his dream children that their uncle John L – used to carry the lame-footed boy on his back around and would take care of him. This depicts Lamb’s real life wish to have his brother taking care of their retarded sister.

Stylistic Analysis of the Essay:

ž Repetition of ideas (stream of consciousness):

Stream of consciousness is the style of writing in which the writer tells or narrates his ideas in the flow as they appear in is mind. This is for writer’s catharsis, in which the writer repeats certain ideas a number of times within the same piece of writing.

In the essay Dream Children, we can find such few examples. Consider the following extracts from the essay:

1)“Then I went on to say, how good and how religious their great grandmother Field was.”

   “…because she had such a good and religious person”

  “….because I was never half so good or religious as she”

The idea of great-grandmother Field being very religious has been repeated thrice. This also shows Lamb’s appreciation of morality and religiosity. Consider another example:

2)”Then I told how good she was to all her grand-children”

   “….. I told how, though their great-grandmother Field loved all her grand-children”

The idea that great-grandmother Field always loved all her grand-children has been repeated twice in almost the same manner.

ž Conversational and Informal Beginning:

Lamb’s manner of opening his essay is quite conversational and informal. Instead of being aphoristic or didactic, he appears to begin in such a way as if he intends to share his experience with his audience and make them his secret sharer. This is evident from the opening lines of the essay as following:

“Children love to listen to stories about their elders, when they were children to stretch their imaginatio……”

ž Symbolism:

The use of symbols can also be seen in the essay Dream Children. Consider the following symbols.

1)“All its old ornaments stripped”

Through this, Lamb hints upon the modernization of the society, in which people are forgetting their culture and civilization. Lamb tells his dream children that the owner of their great-grandmother’s Field house had moved to “more fashionable mansion which he had purchased somewhere in the adjoining country”. But the old traditional ornaments looked odd and tawdry in his new mansion.

2)“I found myself quietly seated in my bachelor arm-chair”

The bachelor arm-chair symbolizes Lamb’s loneliness and absence of a wife and family.

ž Juxtaposition:

It is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are stated together. In this essay “Busy Idle” is juxtaposition. His diversions kept his mind busy because he was constantly recalling the events of the past. All the recalling was useless and there was no use of it in the present or maybe he was idle and that’s why he kept his mind busy.

“I had more pleasure in these busy-idle diversions than in all the sweet flavors of peaches, nectarines, oranges and such-like common baits of children”

ž Detailed description:

In his brief essay, Lamb employs detailed description of some events and places while he narrates story to his children. A detailed account of John L- has been given, who represents Lamb’s brother. Moreover, a detailed description of the great-grandmother Field’s house has been given. Consider the following description in which Lamb describes the Norfolk house:

“…..I never could be tired with roaming about that huge mansion, with its vast empty rooms, with their worn-out hangings, fluttering tapestry, and carved oaken panels, with the guilding almost rubbed out…”

“….and how the nectrines and peaches hung upon the walls…….among the old melancholy-looking yew trees, or the firs, and picking up the red berries, and the fir apples……with the oranges and limes in that grateful warmth……”

Lamb’s desires reflected in his dream:

ž Desire of marrying Ann:

Lamb wanted to marry Ann; the lady to whom he proposed. However, she rejected Lamb’s proposal and married Bartrum instead. In his dream, Lamb sees a little girl Alice who looks likes Ann. This reflects Lamb’s desire of marrying Ann.

ž Desire of having Children:

Lamb did not marry in his life, as he had a mentally sick sister to take care of, as well as that the lady he wanted to marry rejected his proposal. However, Lamb longed to have a wife and wanted to have children. This desire of Lamb is evident from the very title of his essay “Dream Children”.

ž Desire of having a responsible brother:

Lamb’s elder brother did not support them and never took the responsibility of his sick sister. In the form of John L – taking care of the lame-footed boy in Lamb’s dream, we observe Lamb’s desire of having his brother as a responsible and caring person towards Lamb and their sister.

Themes:

ž Children Psychology:

In the essay Dream Children, we say Lamb beautifully depicting children’s psychology as he narrates his dream. Consider the following extract from the essay:

“…here Alice’s little right foot played an involuntary movement, till, upon my looking grave, it desisted”

In the above extract, Lamb tells about children’s restless and impatient nature. It is hard for children to sit still and concentrate on what is told to them. In agitation, they start looking here and there, and move their limbs to satisfy themselves. However, when they find someone noticing them, they immediately cease to move.

Following is another such example:

“Here John slyly deposited back upon the plate a bunch of grapes, which, not unobserved by Alice, he had meditated dividing with her, and both seemed unwilling to relinquish them for the present as irrelevant”

In the above lines, Lamb depicts that food always baits children’s attention. Nothing attracts them more than eatables. Once they find something to eat, they lose their concentration towards every other thing happening to them. This is the innocence of their nature, and they can be easily taken in or satisfied with the offer of a little eatable.

ž Nostalgic effect (Memories):

The theme of memories and past days is quite prominent in this essay. Lamb appears to miss a number of people including his grandmother, his brother, his love Ann and the past days of his childhood he used to spend with his grandmother.

ž Loneliness:

The theme of loneliness appears at the end of essay in the following lines:

“We are not of Alice, nor of thee, nor are we children at all. The children of Alice called Bartrum father. We are nothing; less than nothing, and dreams. We are only what might have been, and must wait upon the tedious shores of Lethe millions of ages before we have existence and a name”

“…and immediately awaking, I found myself quietly seated in my bachelor arm-chair, where I had fallen asleep”

After reading the above lines, the reader turns from happy children story to gloom as it is discovered that all that happened earlier was just a dream, and in reality Lamb is alone and does not have any wife or children.

The Three different places in the essay:

In this essay, there are three different settings:

1)      Lamb’s real world (the place where Lamb fell asleep on his arm-chair)

2)      The place in Lamb’s dream (where he was narrating story to is children)

3)      The place in the story which Lamb was narrating to his children in his Lamb

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