Dream Children: A Reverie - Analysis of the Themes

 

Dream Children, A Reverie: Analysis

 

‘The Dream Children: A Reverie’ is a famous essay present in the collection ‘Essays of Elia’ first published in 1823 (Lamb C. & Lamb M., 1903). ‘Elia’ is a pseudonym used by Charles who was a romantic writer born on 10^th February, 1775. ‘Essays of Elia’ is his greatest achievement. His essays had a variety of themes and styles. He has used simple but interesting language. Humor, imagination, autobiography, pathos, glimpses, philosophy are few of the many qualities present in his writing.

His essay - ‘The Dream Children: A Reverie’ is an essay Lamb wrote in remembrance of his family relationships. It is an essay which blurs the line between reality and fiction. Lamb while talking about his family members has not used their real names in order to keep his identity private. ‘Reverie’ is an extravagant construction of an idea in one’s mind while staying awake; in simple words it is a daydream (Lutfi Hussein & Ali Dawood, 2018; Chandio et al., 2019; Rahman, 2018). This essay is a Reverie of James Elia or Charles Lamb. The essay begins when his kids Alice and John ask him to tell the story of their great-grandmother. Alice and John are the only characters that are fictional. Charles Lamb fantasizes about the kids he never had and the woman he never married. All the other characters: his grandmother, brother, and lover, are real (Lamb, 1923).

Charles Lamb has used his life and inner feelings to write this essay. Being the prince of English essays, he has used the many themes in this essay. Some of which are:

1.     Psychology of children

Lamb has used his imaginary kids: Alice and John to portray the behavior of children. The story starts when the kids request their father for a story that they have already heard many times before. The author explains how kids love to hear stories of their ancestors because it helps them in experiencing things they have never seen. The requested story was called ‘the children of the woods’ which was written on the wood above the fireplace. Later, some man replaced the wood with a marble piece. Lamb describes that his daughter, Alice was sad and disappointed by the loss of the wood with the story. This in turn made him feel guilt. It is the children’s innocent charm that makes elder people feel guilt when something disheartens the kids.

Lamb also describes other qualities of children. For example, their restlessness. He uses phrases like ‘spread her hands’ or ‘tapped her feet’ to prove this point. Kids have small attention span, and are always uneasy to sit in one place for long. Lamb also writes how kids want to seem brave and courageous and that their attraction towards food is very strong. Whenever there’s something tasty besides them, they are distracted, and when it goes into their belly, all their desires are fulfilled.

2.     Memory

In this essay, Lamb is reminiscing his past life when he had his grandmother and his brother with him in the house fields. He is thinking about his lover that he could have married and communicating his regrets.  He describes in great detail the place he used to live in where he was happy and fulfilled.

3.     Solitary

This essay is a detailed account of a dream. The world created by Lamb is solely based on imagination and memories. He talks about his home fields and the way he used to spend his time there, then he talks about his grandmother and her lovely personality. His grandmother was brave and affectionate and loved everyone, especially Lamb’s brother, John L., who was always there to carry Lamb on his back. The author is enjoying this storytelling to his kids. His kids are very interested in his words and requests their father to tell more stories. All these descriptions make the readers feel at home. The author has purposefully used detailed descriptions of his memories to make the readers feel empty when he reveals that Lamb is actually a bachelor and has no kids or wife. He is far from reality, living alone in the real world.

Lamb is sad in his loneliness as he thinks and regrets the moments of his past life. He is sad that he no longer has his grandmother or the house fields. He regrets that he never helped his brother until he died. Lamb is thinking of the family he could have made if he had married his lover, Alice.

Lamb builds melancholy in his writing by showing the happiness of being a father. He has constructed a vivid image of all that he has missed in life. This makes the readers empathize with his sadness.

4.     Humor

In his essay, Lamb has used humor and joy to convey his feelings. He tells the story with a happy style with sad undertones. He uses nostalgia to take the readers back to his happy time. He creates a beautiful scenery for his memories and unfulfilled wishes. In the way he explains his childhood days, the readers are captivated by its beauty and innocence. He goes into great detail to describe the great house he used to live in with his grandmother, he talks about the fishes, the trees, flowers, fruits and more. He also talks about his grandmother with great appreciation. He especially loves his brother, John. He talks about how well-loved John L was, because of his bravery and empathy. Narrator’s children- Alice and John are another happy element of the essay. Lamb describes the psychology of his children with humor. He uses short phrases to convey the movements of children throughout the story. The narrator is further delighted to tell the kids about their mother and his lover, Alice.

5.     Pathos 

Lamb is known for his humorous and informal writing style. Lamb’s real life was very sad and disappointing. His sister Mary killed their parents in insanity, so it was the duty of Lamb to look after her. This made him mentally exhausted. After taking lifelong care of his sister, he also became unstable and had to serve some time at a madhouse. As a humorist, he uses his sadness and tragedy to write humor. He uses humor as a way out of his miseries. As Bunyan writes that somethings make a man laugh while his heart aches (Ali, 2019). As such, whenever Lamb uses humor in his essay, it is directly followed by pathos. When he talks about his childhood days, it is followed by the destruction of the great house. His grandmother dies of cancer, and his brother becomes lame and dies too. His lover Alice, didn’t become his wife and he lived as a bachelor. Since the essay is a Reverie, the readers are met with the fact that all the characters and memories are based on regret and loss.    

Are you interested in reading the original text? Read it here: Dream Reverie by Charles Lamb