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Unit 4: Charles Lamb-Dream Children : A Reverie-A Critical Analysis

2. Lamb had a sister, Mary Lamb, who did not marry since she had attacks of insanity. Notes
She has been referred to here as “faithful Bridget” because she never married and
was Lamb’s only companion in his life. At the sudden breakdown of his reverie, he
finds her seated by his side.
3. Dream Children is a personal essay. Lamb presents the characters and incidents
from his own life—the sketches of his grandmother Mrs. Field, his brother—John
Lamb, his sister—Mary Lamb, his tragic love-affairs with Ann Simmons. But Lamb
always plays with facts and fictions and transforms the real into the literary.
• Through the stylistic approach to Dream Children, we can see that Charles Lamb is a
romanticist, seeking a free expression of his own personality and weaving romance
into daily life. Without a trace of vanity of self-assertion, Lamb begins with himself,
with some purely personal mood or experience, and from this he leads the reader to
see life and literature as he saw it. It is this wonderful combination of personal and
universal interests, together with Lamb’s rare old style, which make the essay remarkable.
• The Last Essays of Elia were published in 1823 and 1833, respectively.
• Lamb’s discerning and lively correspondence is collected in The Letters of Charles Lamb
(1935).
• Dream Children records the pathetic joys in the author’s unfortunate domestic life.

4.8 Keywords

Portrayed : Depict (someone or something) in a work of art or literature.
Protean : Readily taking on various shapes or forms variable, exhibiting considerable
variety or diversity.
Prismatic effect : Relating to, resembling, or constituting a prism.

4.9 Review Questions

1. Who was Alice in Dream Children by Charles Lamb?

2. What is the summary of Dream Children a reverie by Charles lamb?
3. What is the theme of Dream Children by Charles lamb?
4. Who was James Elia in Lamb’s ‘Dream Children’?

Answers: Self-Assessment

1. (i) (a) (ii)(a) (iii)(b) (iv)(c)

4.10 Further Readings

Books 1. Life of Charles Lamb, E.V. Lucas, G.P. Putman and Sons, London, 1905.
2. Young Charles Lamb, by Winifred Courtney, New York University Press, 1982.
3. Essays by Charles Lamb.

Online links www.w3.org/WAI/eval/considerations.html

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