Dream Children; a Reverie Themes
Dream Children; a Reverie is a non-fictional essay. Charles Lamb is the author of this essay. The themes of Lamb’s Dream Children; a Reverie are:
1. Nostalgia:
Lamb feels pain for his lost pleasurable time. He griefs over the deaths of his grandmother (Mrs. Field), elder brother (John L-) and Ann (his lady love). Also, Lamb misses his childhood when he used to spend holidays in some mansion and its joint garden with his grandmother in Norfolk. He says that Mrs Field was a very loving and religious lady and still remembers her as a great and generous lady. Lamb states that his brother went through some limb surgery and became lame-footed. Then, the writer adds that his brother loved and cared for him in their childhood by holding him upon his back when the author was lame. Lamb mentions about his regret for not helping his brother in pain, or he feels ashamed for not repaying kindness to his brother. Also, the author says that he was unconscious of his love for John L- until his death. Then, he admits missing John severely after some period of his death. Afterwards, Lamb narrates about his seven-year-long efforts for love of Ann. Then, he gets sad for losing her after such a long struggle in marrying her. The author seems to be in a nostalgic mood due to his memories. (Nostalgia is a feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness for events which occurred in the past.)
2. Psychology of children:
In Dream Children; a Reverie, Lamb depicts the psychology of children. He shows the psychological behaviour of children in two ways. Firstly, he tells that Alice began to move her little foot involuntarily during his story-telling. It happened because children are very restless by nature. Also, the kids find it very hard to concentrate on one matter at a time. So, they start looking around and move their limbs to satisfy themselves. However, when they find someone noticing them, they stop their movements. Therefore, children are much difficult to handle when someone has to make them perform any task or activity.
Then, another interesting aspect of the child’s mind is that they get attracted to eatables very easily. In the context of Dream Children; a Reverie, John puts back the bunch of grapes on the plate which he had collected secretly because he and his sister (Alice) find eating grapes at the moment as an irrelevant activity during their listening to their father’s tale about his past. So, this shows that children are very innocent who get tempted by little things like food and drinks.
3. Loneliness:
The theme of loneliness appears at the end of the essay, Dream Children; a Reverie when a reader gets informed that Lamb had no wife or children, and all that Lamb told was just a dream. Also, such imagination of Lamb resulted from a profound desire for a family that he could not have in reality. So, the essay is all about a bachelor whose story moved from a happy childhood to some sad adult age in which he felt lonely for having no spouse and children.
Conclusion:
So that is all about Dream Children; a Reverie themes. It is hoped that you liked the content. If you have any questions or concerns, let the author know via the contact form or email address on the website.