Dream world (plot device)

Dream worlds (also called dream realms, illusory realms, or dreamscape) are a common plot device in fictional works, most notably in science fiction and fantasy fiction. The use of a dream world creates a situation in which a character or group of characters is placed in a marvellous and unpredictable environment and must overcome personal problems to leave it. The dream world commonly serves to teach some moral or religious lessons to the character experiencing it – a lesson that the other characters will be unaware of, but one that will influence decisions made regarding them. When the character is reintroduced into the real world, usually when they wake up, the question arises as to what exactly constitutes reality due to the vivid recollection and experiences in the dream world.

According to J. R. R. Tolkien, dream worlds contrast with fantasy worlds, in which the world exists independently of the characters in it.^[1] However, other authors have used the dreaming process as a way of accessing a world which, within the context of the fiction, holds as much consistency and continuity as physical reality.^[2] The use of "dream frames" to contain a fantasy world and explain its marvels has been criticized, with the device becoming less prevalent as a result.^[3]

^ J.R.R. Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories", p. 14, The Tolkien Reader, Ballantine Books, New York 1966
^ "Whilst the greater number of our nocturnal visions are perhaps no more than faint and fantastic reflections of our waking experiences...
... Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon." – H.P. Lovecraft, from "Beyond the Wall of Sleep", as reprinted in The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death (Del Rey, 1995)
^ John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Dreams", p. 297 ISBN 0-312-19869-8

[1] J.R.R. Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories", p. 14, The Tolkien Reader, Ballantine Books, New York 1966

[2] "Whilst the greater number of our nocturnal visions are perhaps no more than faint and fantastic reflections of our waking experiences...
... Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon." – H.P. Lovecraft, from "Beyond the Wall of Sleep", as reprinted in The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death (Del Rey, 1995)

[encyc-3] John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Dreams", p. 297 ISBN 0-312-19869-8

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