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PARTISAN REVIEW
dream-text, involving what (by an extension of Freud's vocabulary)
might be called "tertiary revision."
Freud chose to illustrate his fundamental hypotheses in the sec–
ond chapter of
The Interpretation oj Dreams
with one of his own
dreams. This was an unusual gesture in the scientific literature of
the late nineteenth century. Consequently Freud's decision to use
his own dream required a justification. He explains in
The Interpreta–
tion oj Dreams
that he did not find suitable examples among the
dreams of his patients. A critic might argue, he wrote, that the
dreams of his patients "are the dreams of neuropaths, from which
no valid inferences could be made as to the dreams of normal
people." And Freud himself objected that "the subject to which
these dreams of my patients lead up is always ... the case history
which underlies their neurosis." This meant that in each case he
would have to explain the particular neurosis, thus distracting from
the exposition of the main subject-the interpretation of dreams. So,
Freud reasons, he has only his own dreams to work with. They pro–
vide him with an abundant choice of examples, "derived from an
approximately normal person and relating to multifarious occasions
of daily life."
Having defended his use of his own dreams in this way,
however, Freud considers possible objections to the procedure. He
mentions that his interpretations of his own dreams may seem un–
trustworthy. He appears to be referring to the inability of the reader
to verify the record of the dreams or associations. He dismisses this
objection, however, with the argument that
he
can be more sure of
his observations of himself than he can of the self-observations of
others.
Freud notes, however, that he is naturally hesitant to reveal the
intimate details of his dreams. There can be no guarantee that others
will not misinterpret his dreams once they are seen in print. He
represents himself as anxious about his privacy and the loss of con–
trol over the interpretation of his dreams that is entailed in their
publication. Yet he bravely declares that "it must be possible to
overcome such hesitations," and goes on to quote the French
psychologist Delboeuf to the effect that a psychologist is obliged to
confess even his weaknesses if such confession will advance the cause
of science. It is as if he has raised the objection in order to represent
himself overcoming it. By calling attention to his resistance in this
way, he could only enhance the reader's watchful curiosity about
what the dreamer will reveal.
This effect is further enhanced by the interesting sentence with
