Due West Female College - Arrow Yearbook (Due West, SC)

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KQV ' 1 ' 5 l'I--- 4 '?fi . 1 1 a 'rlllll vi- , ., ..,, a . ... - HE Aiiaizow s.. -' e N- -fmfmx me fx e at ' I ig- .7111-'1h1lM'ffr74TIIIlllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllIIIllllllIIllllllIlIIIIllIIlllllllIlllllllllllIIIIIlllllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllfau ,I Shakespeare's second use of dreams, that of telling a story, is fittingly illustrated in his drama, Othello Iago observes: There are a kind of men so loose of soul That in their sleep will mutter their affairs. Then he relates to the jealous Moor the story he claims to have heard from the lips of the sleeping Cassio-the story of the love between Cassio and Othello's wife. Seeing the lVloor's consternation and dark anger, he adds: Nay, this was but his dreamf, The jealous Othello exclaims: But this denoted a foregone conclusionf' The Moor seems to be viewing the matter from the psychologisfs standpoint, which is that a dream is the natural outgrowth of a man's conscious hours-that it is a reproduction or an anticipation of an experience of his waking hours. To him the story of Cassio's dream is the proof of his guilt. Lady Macbeth gives in the sleep-walking scene the story of her and lVlacbeth's crime. She recalls the murder scene in all its horror, and upbraids Macbeth for his cowardice. She herself reveals the true story of the crime which she thought was safely hidden. Truth will come to lightg murder cannot be hid long. The third attribute ascribed to the great dramatist's passages on sleep and dreams is that dreams reveal character. One of our psychologists has said that no one can dream his neighbor's dream. Shakespeare's dreams reflect the personality of the dreamer- they show his temperament, his interest in life, and the principles he follows in the pur- suance of his interest. O what may man within him hide, Though angel on the outward side when awakeg but when he is asleep and the barriers of will power are down, Diseased nature oftentimes breaks forth in strange eruptions. This is what happens in the case of Lady Macbeth. Her eyes are open, but their senses are shutf, She curses the bloody stain which will not be removed, but rebukes her husband for his hesitancy to commit murder. She reveals her cold-blooded, heartless self, ready to go any length to gain power. Her inner thoughts are those of a deliberate murderess, hardening her heart like flint. For a moment her feminine nature arises and she shrinks from the blood which all the perfumes of Arabia cannot remove, but the strong-willed, self-commanding self returns, and she orders her husband to bed. What's done can't be undone,', she reasons. Her dreams alone disclose her remorse. The twofold dream of Richard and Richmond in the play, Richard III displays the character of the two in a very striking manner. The ghosts of all whom. the heartless Richard has murdered in his struggle for power come to curse him. They remind him of his horrible crimes and of their inevitable results. They show him the harsh brute he really is, and, turning, they heap blessings upon the head of Richmond. They portray Richmond as ua quiet soul, virtuous and holyug and they give in contrast the characters of the men about to engage in battle. One is lower than a beastg the other is upright and noble. One is unfit to be a leader, even of himself, the other is an apt leader of hosts. Richard, steeped in crime with the very finger tips dripping with the blood of his fellowman, is matched against Richmond, a protector of humanity. Shakespeare makes this dream a perfect mirror for the two characters. The fourth use which Shakespeare makes of dreams-that of conveying a message- divides naturally into two uses according to the form of the message. The first and more frequent type of message given is the warning. Romeo expresses the belief that Sleepers do lie in bed while they dream things true. ln Henry IVH the Duke of Gloucester, at strife with the kings and the Lancastrian nobles, is visited by a dream of warning. Page forty six

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GX 5545? ,gi ll .. ,F f W ,,.,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,, 4.,, 'w gtllllll lflllllllllblutg II:IllIIIllllIIIllIIllllIIIIIllIIIllIIIIllIIlllllllllllIIIIIlIIllIlIIllIIIllllIlIllllIllIIllllllllllllIlllllllllllIIIllIIIllIllllIIIIllIIIIllllllIllllllIllllIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllh , --. .., Sleep and Dreams in Shakespeare The best of rest is sleep, and that thou off provolfeslf' strength for his work the harbinger of sweet dreams to brighten the gray corners Shakespeare through Lady Macbeth says The sleeping and the dead are as pictures This speech limited by the surrounding circum stances, means only, The sleeping and the dead tell no secrets, and our crime is safely hidden , but when considered aside from these limitations, it may mean much more. The sleeping and the dead are as pictures. In what way does Shakespeare treat sleep and dreams to bring out the resemblance of the sleeper to a picture? If one assumes that the dream of the sleeper corresponds to the elements of which the picture is composed, one finds in Shakespeare's works several striking resemblances of the two. In the first place, the coloring, the beauty, the lifelike quality of the picture, afford pleasureg the dream of the sleeper, too, affords pleasure. True, the receiver of the pleasure in the latter case is the sleeper himself, but o-f what consequence is that? The dream of the sleeper, and some attribute of the picture, is the source of the pleasant feeling. A second likeness is that both pictures and dreams may tell their stories. When the body is relaxed in sleep, the thoughts repressed during waking hours find expression, and the tale is toldng some hidden experience or plan, some pent-up emotion escapes. The third quality common to pictures and dreams is their ability to reveal character. It is the line of the mouth, the look of the eye, the mould of the chin, that delineate character. The fourth common bond linking dreams and pictures is that both convey messagesg possibly it is a warning against certain dangersg possibly it is encouragement along some line of action or mode of living. Taking up Shakespeareis use of sleep and dreams as a form of rest or source of pleasure, one hears Helena, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, say: Sleep, that some- times shuts up sorrowis eye, steal me awhile from mine own company. She longs for the calm repose, pleasure and peace which sleep alone can bestow. She wants to forget her bodily presence and fall into soft slumbers filled with care-dispelling dreams. Caliban, in The Tempest, speaks of the soft pleasures of sleep and dreams. They are so filled with joy, sunshine and music that, according to his own words, When I waked I cried to dream again. The root meaning of dream being melody, he seems overwhelmed by the sweet melody surrounding him. The pleasant scenes and joyous experiences of his wakeful hours are so impressed upon his mind that his sleep is filled with dreams of them. The theme of one of Shakespeare's sonnets is the pleasure derived from the dream of a loved one. I-Ie says: II LEEP is the God-given and life-giving rest from which man arises with new When I sleep, in dreams do I look on thee, All days are nights to sleep till I see thee, And nights bright days when days do show me thee. The days' are long and wearisome when he cannot see her, but when night comes there come with it sweet dreams of her, and he follows her spirit with fond memories and associations. Page forty-five

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fff v 1 J F1 mm llllllll nl V TH E .num nlll I - 2 ' - 1 J 1 1 F 5: I .ir un. ..l 1 mt-. .,,... ..... an . - . - - .,fa:cn':- 2'.l-,nxmk ml ,f - :A ,. -' -V-,I ' f llllllu'IInlllllllull'IlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllllllllIIIllIIllIIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllf-7-5'- -if . -S. .. I., In this dream he sees his staff of power broken in twain, and upon the two parts are the heads of Duke of Suffolk and Duke of Somerset. This dream is the culmination of his fears, and he does not have to seek far for the interpretatio-n. l-le is soon bereft of power and imprisoned as a traitor. Immediately after the imprisonment he is killed at the insti-gation of Suffolk. His friends avenge his death with the life of Suffolk, and the first lifeless head is placed upon the broken staff. Later Somerset is killed in battle at the time of the king's defeat, and the seco-nd head is furnished for the staff. The dream proves a true prophecy of the death of the three nobles. Another, and a very familiar instance of warning by dreams, is found in the play, Julius Caesar. Calpurnia in her dream cries, l-lelp! Ho! They murder Caesar! She realizes the fickleness of the Roman mob and fears harm to Caesar. This knowledge and her fears penetrated her dream and found expression. She warns Caesar, but to no avail. l-le has chosen to follow another's interpretation, and, following it, he finds a shroud rather than a crown. Turn from dreams of warning to dreams of encouragement. Listen to Romeo again: lf I may trust the flattering truth of sleep, my dreams presage some joyful news at hand. A singular instance of dreams used by Shakespeare as a means of encourage- ment is that of Richmond, in Richard III, encouraged, reassured and strengthened by the blessings and fair prophecies of all the- ghosts appearing to him. Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win By fearing to attempt. Shakespeare realizes this full well, so he uses a dream to remove from Richmond's mind any fears he may have, and sends him forth with the spirit of a conqueror. Anyone can do much more when he feels that someone is upholding him. Small marvel that Rich- mond conquers when he is assured of being in the right and is supported by hosts! Why does Shakespeare use sleep and dreams so extensively in his works? For the benefit of the audience. They know of these dreams, and watching the natural outcome of events declare this outcome a mystery. Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so, and they, seeing natural things, think they are supernatural when viewed in the light of the messages received. Too, his frequent use of sleep and dreams, with their manifold interpretations, serve to heighten the interest of his works. These also furnish many of the most beautiful passages in literature. Certainly his works would not be the same without them. How much of beauty and rest one finds in the following: Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace within thy breast. MYRTLE BALDWIN, '23, Page forty-seven