On the Freedom of Thought, in Dream Life if Nowhere Else: Freud, Foucault, and Euripides

This essay examines the “dead daughter in a box dream,” which initially appeared in The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), in order to make two, related claims. First, the dream is treated as an exemplar of the work of symbolization, and in particular, as a vehicle for the dreamer to work through the phantasy of infanticide. Second, the dreamer’s disclosure of her dream is regarded as an exemplar of parrhesia—a particular speech act that Michel Foucault regarded as central to democracy. This is achieved through a comparison between Freud’s dreamer and Foucault’s discussion of Kreousa, the tragic heroine of Euripides’ play, Ion. The overarching aim of the essay is to view dream-life as a quotidian but primary site where the freedom of thought is practiced.