Chapter 2    Freud: Psychoanalysis55
fei75766_ch02_019-071.indd 55  02/19/20 08:59 AMthedream image isreplaced bysome other ideaonlyremotely related toit(Freud, 
1900/1953). Condensation anddisplacement ofcontent bothtakeplace through 
theuseofsymbols. Certain images arealmost universally represented byseemingly 
innocuous figures. Forexample, thephallus maybesymbolized byelongated objects 
suchassticks, snakes, orknives; thevagina often appears asanysmall box,chest, or
oven; parents appear intheform ofthepresident, ateacher, orone’s boss; andcastra -
tionanxiety canbeexpressed indreams ofgrowing bald, losing teeth, oranyactof
cutting (Freud, 1900/1953, 1901/1953, 1917/1963).
Dreams canalsodeceive thedreamer byinhibiting orreversing thedreamer’s 
affect. Forexample, amanwithhomicidal feelings forhisfather maydream thathis
father hasdied, butinthemanifest dream content, hefeelsneither joynorsorrow; 
thatis,hisaffect isinhibited. Unpleasant feelings canalsobereversed atthemani -
festdream level. Forexample, awoman whounconsciously hates hermother and
would unconsciously welcome herextinction maydream ofhermother’s death, but
theunconscious joyandhatred shefeelsisexpressed assorrow andloveduring the
manifest levelofthedream. Thus, sheisfooled intobelieving thathateisloveand
thatjoyissorrow (Freud, 1900/1953, 1901/1953, 1915/1957a).
After thedream’s latent (unconscious) content hasbeen distorted andits
affect inhibited orreversed, itappears inamanifest form thatcanberecalled bythe
dreamer. Themanifest content, which nearly always relates toconscious orprecon -
scious experience oftheprevious day,haslittleornopsychoanalytic significance; 
onlythelatent content hasmeaning (Freud, 1900/1953).
Ininterpreting dreams, Freud (1917/1963) ordinarily followed oneoftwometh -
ods.Thefirstwastoaskpatients torelate theirdream andalltheirassociations toit,
nomatter howunrelated orillogical these associations seemed. Freud believed that
suchassociations revealed theunconscious wishbehind thedream. Ifthedreamer was
unable torelate association material, Freud usedasecond method—dream symbols—
todiscover theunconscious elements underlying themanifest content. Thepurpose of
bothmethods (associations andsymbols) wastotrace thedream formation backward 
untilthelatent content wasreached. Freud (1900/1953, p.608)believed thatdream 
interpretation wasthemost reliable approach tothestudy ofunconscious processes 
andreferred toitasthe“royal road” toknowledge oftheunconscious.
Anxiety dreams offer nocontradiction totherulethatdreams arewishfulfill -
ments. Theexplanation isthatanxiety belongs tothepreconscious system, whereas 
thewishbelongs totheunconscious. Freud (1900/1953) reported three typical anxi-
etydreams: theembarrassment dream ofnakedness, dreams ofthedeath ofabeloved 
person, anddreams offailing anexamination.
Intheembarrassment dream ofnakedness, thedreamer feelsshame orembar -
rassment atbeing naked orimproperly dressed inthepresence ofstrangers. The
spectators usually appear quite indifferent, although thedreamer isverymuch embar -
rassed. Theorigin ofthisdream istheearly childhood experience ofbeing naked in
thepresence ofadults. Intheoriginal experience, thechild feelsnoembarrassment 
buttheadults often register disapproval. Freud believed thatwishfulfillment isserved 
intwoways bythisdream. First, theindifference ofthespectators fulfills theinfantile 
wishthatthewitnessing adults refrain from scolding. Second, thefactofnakedness 
fulfills thewishtoexhibit oneself, adesire usually repressed inadults butpresent in
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