The man walked down the seventh floor hall. He thought of returning back to the elevator. Uneasiness, perhaps inhibition is a normal thing he thought. He had finally reached the door in which “777” was inscribed in some antique, golden typography. He was nervous-afraid- to knock on the door. Despite this, he closed his eyes while grabbing the doorknob he thought “auto da fe”.
-Good afternoon Mr. Branagh. I hope you didn’t loose yourself around the path. The building seems huge to me. Take a seat.
Kenneth nodded. He slowly settled on the divan, as the old man searched from a cup of tea and some papers.
-I understand you came here for some sort of dream that has been vexing you recently, right?
“Yes”, he said. “I dream very strange things recently. This is beginning to affect my professional life. I was recently working with Derek Jacobi on an adaption of Hamlet.”
The old man interrupted, “ I’m guessing you are playing Hamlet yourself is that right?”
Once again the man was right Kenneth thought. He replied, “Yes Mr. Freud, it is a very complex character as you may know.”
The old man said, “ Would you please tell me about your dream. Please remember not to omit any details, these are very important for the interpretation.”
Kenneth began, “ I experience the feeling of leaving my body and have some peripherical vision of myself, as if I changed from being Kenneth Branagh to being another “Kenneth Branagh”. This one, is a third person “Kenneth Branagh”, are you following me?”
-I understand what you mean Mr. Branagh. This sensation or experience youre having is also known as doppelganger. I do not fancy the complicated terms we use. I apologize for interrupting your discourse.
- “Well… this “Kenneth Branagh” is the one I see through. I observe Kenneth Branagh, which is not really Kenneth Branagh. How can I make this clearer... The “Kenneth Branagh” I’m talking about has the same facial structure as me but he wears different clothes and he acts in a strange manner. The dream… I can’t recall the beginning,” the man exclaimed. The old man took note. He wrote on his notes:
Patient deals with anger, probably fear. Constant nervous gestures. Perspires continuously and grabs his hands while speaking.”
-It’s completely normal to forget about the beginning of our dreams. This occurs in everything. We tend to remember conclusions, the last experience, the end.
- The “Kenneth Branagh observer” is different from the “Kenneth branagh/ Hamlet”. Kenneth Branagh/ Hamlet says:
“To be, or not to be– that is the question:
/ Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
/The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
/Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
/And, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep/
No more – and by a sleep to say we end
/The heartache and the thousand natural shocks/
That flesh is heir to – ‘tis a consummation/
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep/
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub,
/For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,/
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,/
Must give us pause.”
Just as he pronounces, “pause”, I wake up, shaking and sweating. I need to know what this dream means Mr. Freud. I need…
-As I said Mr. Branagh, you have reached the end per se. It is interesting how the end of your dream is the end of the soliloquy. However, in your dream, it is not the end itself, it is a pause just as Hamlet says. It is a pause because you have not figured out yet the meaning of your dream and therefore have not reached the end of it. I will now pose this question, who do you want to end the dream, Kenneth branagh, “Kenneth Branagh observer” or “Kenneth Branagh/ Hamlet?
Silence filled the room. Silence fills everything. Silence is a pause, the end.
