Chapter 3 Summary

To introduce the third chapter, Freud remarks how, after a great discovery, one should carefully consider the next steps to take. It is this way, he says, with mastering the first interpretation. He then reinforces the value of the dream, which he says is not like a musical instrument being banged upon by someone other than the intended musician. That is, the dream for the author is not meaningless or absurd; it is a significant psychic tool of wish fulfillment.

The first issue Freud addresses regarding the dream as wish fulfillment is the question of the way the dream is expressed, what is the "striking and unfamiliar" manner of expressing wishes, and furthermore, where does this symbolic material come from? In addition, Freud includes one more question he proposes dream analysts ask: whether this is a typical characteristic of dreams and whether or...