Freud - Complete Works (536 page)

Introductory Lectures On Psycho-Analysis

3247

   The range of things which are
given symbolic representation in dreams is not wide: the human body
as a whole, parents, children, brothers and sisters, birth, death,
nakedness - and something else besides. The one typical - that is
regular - representation of the human figure as a whole is a
house
, as was recognized by Scherner, who even wanted to
give this symbol a transcendant importance which it does not
possess. It may happen in a dream that one finds oneself climbing
down the façade of a house, enjoying it at one moment,
frightened at another. The houses with smooth walls are men, the
ones with projections and balconies that one can hold on to are
women. One’s parents appear in dreams as the
Emperor
and
Empress
, the
King
and
Queen
or other
honoured personages; so here dreams are displaying much filial
piety. They treat children and brothers and sisters less tenderly:
these are symbolized as
small animals
or
vermin
.
Birth is almost invariably represented by something which has a
connection with
water
: one either falls into the water or
climbs out of it, one rescues someone from the water or is rescued
by someone - that is to say, the relation is one of mother to
child. Dying is replaced in dreams by
departure
, by a
train journey
, being dead by various obscure and, as it
were, timid hints, nakedness by
clothes
and
uniforms
.
You see how indistinct the boundaries are here between symbolic and
allusive representation.

   It is a striking fact that,
compared with this scanty enumeration, there is another field in
which the objects and topics are represented with an
extraordinarily rich symbolism. This field is that of sexual life -
the genitals, sexual processes, sexual intercourse. The very great
majority of symbols in dreams are sexual symbols. And here a
strange disproportion is revealed. The topics I have mentioned are
few, but the symbols for them are extremely numerous, so that each
of these things can be expressed by numbers of almost equivalent
symbols. The out come, when they are interpreted, gives rise to
general objection. For, in contrast to the multiplicity of the
representations in the dream, the interpretations of the symbols
are very monotonous, and this displeases everyone who hears of it;
but what is there that we can do about it?

Introductory Lectures On Psycho-Analysis

3248

   Since this is the first time I
have spoken of the subject-matter of sexual life in one of these
lectures, I owe you some account of the way in which I propose to
treat the topic. Psycho-analysis finds no occasion for concealments
and hints, it does not think it necessary to be ashamed of dealing
with this important material, it believes it is right and proper to
call everything by its correct name, and it hopes that this will be
the best way of keeping irrelevant thoughts of a disturbing kind at
a distance. The fact that these lectures are being given before a
mixed audience of both sexes can make no difference to this. Just
as there can be no science
in usum Delphini
, there can be
none for schoolgirls; and the ladies among you have made it clear
by their presence in this lecture-room that they wish to be treated
on an equality with men.

   The male genitals, then, are
represented in dreams in a number of ways that must be called
symbolic, where the common element in the comparison is mostly very
obvious. To begin with, for the male genitals as a whole the sacred
number 3 is of symbolic significance. The more striking and for
both sexes the more interesting component of the genitals, the male
organ, finds symbolic substitutes in the first instance in things
that resemble it in shape - things, accordingly, that are long and
up-standing, such as
sticks, umbrellas, posts, trees
and so
on; further, in objects which share with the thing they represent
the characteristic of penetrating into the body and injuring -
thus, sharp
weapons
of every kind,
knives, daggers,
spears, sabres
, but also fire-arms,
rifles, pistols
and
revolvers
(particularly suitable owing to their shape). In
the anxiety dreams of girls, being followed by a man with a knife
or a fire-arm plays a large part. This is perhaps the commonest
instance of dream symbolism and you will now be able to translate
it easily. Nor is there any difficulty in understanding how it is
that the male organ can be replaced by objects from which water
flows -
water-taps, watering-cans
, or
fountains
- or
again by other objects which are capable of being lengthened, such
as
hanging-lamps, extensible pencils
, etc. A no less obvious
aspect of the organ explains the fact that
pencils, pen-holders,
nail-files, hammers
, and other
instruments
are undoubted
male sexual symbols.

Introductory Lectures On Psycho-Analysis

3249

   The remarkable characteristic of
the male organ which enables it to rise up in defiance of the laws
of gravity, one of the phenomena of erection, leads to its being
represented symbolically by
balloons, flying-machines
and
most recently by
Zeppelin airships
. But dreams can symbolize
erection in yet another, far more expressive manner. They can treat
the sexual organ as the essence of the dreamer’s whole person
and make him himself
fly
. Do not take it to heart if dreams
of flying, so familiar and often so delightful, have to be
interpreted as dreams of general sexual excitement, as
erection-dreams. Among students of psycho-analysis, Paul Federn has
placed this interpretation beyond any doubt; but the same
conclusion was reached from his investigations by Mourly Vold, who
has been so much praised for his sobriety, who carried out the
dream-experiments I have referred to with artificially arranged
positions of the arms and legs and who was far removed from
psycho-analysis and may have known nothing about it. And do not
make an objection out of the fact that women can have the same
flying dreams as men. Remember, rather, that our dreams aim at
being the fulfilments of wishes and that the wish to be a man is
found so frequently, consciously or unconsciously, in women. Nor
will anyone with a knowledge of anatomy be bewildered by the fact
that it is possible for women to realize this wish through the same
sensations as men. Women possess as part of their genitals a small
organ similar to the male one; and this small organ, the clitoris,
actually plays the same part in childhood and during the years
before sexual intercourse as the large organ in men.

   Among the less easily
understandable male sexual symbols are certain
reptiles
and
fishes
, and above all the famous symbol of the
snake
.
It is certainly not easy to guess why
hats
and
overcoats
or
cloaks
are employed in the same way, but
their symbolic significance is quite unquestionable. And finally we
can ask ourselves whether the replacement of the male limb by
another limb, the foot or the hand, should be described as
symbolic. We are, I think, compelled to do so by the context and by
counterparts in the case of women.

Introductory Lectures On Psycho-Analysis

3250

   The female genitals are
symbolically represented by all such objects as share their
characteristic of enclosing a hollow space which can take something
into itself: by
pits, cavities
and
hollows
, for
instance, by
vessels
and
bottles
, by
receptacles,
boxes, trunks, cases, chests, pockets
, and so on.
Ships
,
too, fall into this category. Some symbols have more connection
with the uterus than with the female genitals: thus,
cupboard,
stoves
and, more especially,
rooms
. Here room-symbolism
touches on house-symbolism.
Doors
and
gates
, again,
are symbols of the genital orifice. Materials, too, are symbols for
women:
wood, paper
y and objects made of them, like
tables
and
books
. Among animals,
snails
and
mussels
at least are undeniably female symbols; among parts
of the body, the
mouth
(as a substitute for the genital
orifice); among buildings,
churches
and
chapels
. Not
every symbol, as you will observe, is equally intelligible.

   The breasts must be reckoned with
the genitals, and these, like the larger hemispheres of the female
body, are represented by
apples, peaches
, and
fruit
in general. The pubic hair of both sexes is depicted in dreams as
woods
and
bushes
. The complicated topography of the
female genital parts makes one understand how it is that they are
often represented as
landscapes
, with rocks, woods and
water, while the imposing mechanism of the male sexual apparatus
explains why all kinds of complicated machinery which is hard to
describe serve as symbols for it.

   Another symbol of the female
genitals which deserves mention is a
jewel-case
.
Jewel
and
treasure
are used in dreams as well as in
waking life to describe someone who is loved.
Sweets
frequently represent sexual enjoyment. Satisfaction obtained from a
person’s own genitals is indicated by all kinds of
playing
, including
piano-playing
. Symbolic
representations
par excellence
of masturbation are
gliding
or
sliding
and
pulling off a
branch
.(The
falling out of a tooth
or the
pulling out
of a tooth
is a particularly notable dream-symbol. Its first
meaning is undoubtedly castration as a punishment for masturbating.
We come across special representations of sexual intercourse less
often than might be expected from what has been said so far.
Rhythmical activities such as
dancing, riding
and
climbing
must be mentioned here, as well as violent
experiences such as
being run over
; so, too, certain
manual crafts
, and, of course,
threatening with
weapons
.

Introductory Lectures On Psycho-Analysis

3251

   You must not picture the use or
the translation of these symbols as something quite simple. In the
course of them all kinds of things happen which are contrary to our
expectations. It seems almost incredible, for instance, that in
these symbolic representations the differences between the sexes
are often not clearly observed. Some symbols signify genitals in
general, irrespective of whether they are male or female: for
instance, a
small
child, a
small
son or a
small
daughter. Or again, a predominantly male symbol may be
used for the female genitals or vice versa. We cannot understand
this till we have obtained some insight into the development of
sexual ideas in human beings. In some instances the ambiguity of
the symbols may only be an apparent one; and the most marked
symbols, such as
weapons, pockets
and
chests
are
excluded from this bisexual use.

   I will now go on to make a
survey, starting not from the thing represented but from the
symbol, of the fields from which sexual symbols are mostly derived,
and I will make a few additional remarks, with special reference to
the symbols where the common element in the comparison is not
understood. The
hat
is an obscure symbol of this kind -
perhaps, too, head-coverings in general - with a male significance
as a rule, but also capable of a female one. In the same way an
overcoat
or
cloak
means a man, perhaps not always
with a genital reference; it is open to you to ask why. Neckties,
which hang down and are not worn by women, are a definitely male
symbol.
Underclothing
and
linen
in general are
female.
Clothes
and
uniforms
, as we have already
seen, are a substitute for nakedness or bodily shapes.
Shoes
and
slippers
are female genitals.
Tables
and
wood
have already been mentioned as puzzling but certainly
female symbols.
Ladders, steps
, and
staircases
, or,
more precisely, walking on them, are clear symbols of sexual
intercourse. On reflection, it will occur to us that the common
element here is the rhythm of walking up them - perhaps, too, the
increasing excitement and breathlessness the higher one climbs.

Introductory Lectures On Psycho-Analysis

3252

   We have earlier referred to
landscapes
as representing the female genitals.
Hills
and
rocks
are symbols of the male organ.
Gardens
are
common symbols of the female genitals.
Fruit
stands, not for
children, but for the breasts.
Wild animals
mean people in
an excited sensual state, and further, evil instincts or passions.
Blossoms
and
flowers
indicate women’s genitals,
or, in particular, virginity. Do not forget that blossoms are
actually the genitals of plants.

   We are acquainted already with
rooms
as a symbol. The representation can be carried
further, for windows, and doors in and out of rooms, take over the
meaning of orifices in the body. And the question of the room being
open
or
locked
fits in with this symbolism, and the
key
that opens it is a decidedly male symbol.