Dreams in Early Modern England

shows the variety and complexity of the early modern English discourses on dreams, from the role of dreams and dream theory in framing religious, scientific and philosophical debates, to the way that dreams continued to offer important spiritual and supernatural guidance and lastly how ordinary people exercised agency over their lives through interpreting and using dreams. While today we tend to conceptualize dreams and dreaming as largely psychological, this study shows how early modern people understood dreams and dreaming as many different things, most significantly as political, religious, medical, philosophical and supernatural.

offers an in-depth exploration of the variety of different ways in which early modern people understood and interpreted dreams, from medical explanations to political, religious or supernatural associations.

Through examining how dreams were discussed and presented in a range of diffrerent texts, including both published works and private notes and diaries, this book highlights the many coexisting strands of thought that surrounded dreams in early modern England. Most significantly, it places early modern perceptions of dreams within the social context of the period through an evaluation of how they were shaped by key events of the time, such as the Reformation and the English Civil Wars. The chapters also explore contemporary experiences and ideas of dreams in relation to dream divination, religious visions, sleep, nightmares and sleep disorders.

This book will be of great value to students and academics with an interest in dreams and the understanding of dreams, sleep and nightmares in early modern English society.