Phantom of the Opera: A Psychological Review

Phantom of the Opera has been playing on Broadway for twenty five years now which makes it the longest running play in the history of Broadway. It has been seen by over one hundred and thirty million people, world-wide. It is a phenomenon, a spectacle. It is tempting for a psychologist to wonder, "Why?"

Explanation of the "Big" Dream Section

When Carl Jung, the psychiatrist and student and colleague and friend of Sigmund Freud, spoke to a member of a tribe in a remote part of Africa (to which no white man had ever gone), he was told that there are small dreams and big dreams.

"Big" Dream 2 (August, 2013)

(from the series of "Big" dreams)

This is a dream of a patient who was involved in a family dispute that was very troubling to him. It involved his extended family. The members of this family are prominent and are used to being respected, listened to, and even obeyed. In the dispute no one was listening to or respecting or obeying anyone else, and the man felt discounted. On the day of the dream, it came to the dreamer's attention that many of the family members, in spite of their outward disrespect, might have been listening to him more than he thought. He devised a plan based on this assumption, but, when he went to sleep, he still felt shaky and weak, feelings that were not usual to him.

"Big" Dream 5 (January, 2014)

(from the series of "Big" dreams)

This dreamer was touched by the following dream but was not sure if it was about him alone or had some bigger implications.

Short idea (148): We all have good tendencies, and we all have bad tendencies. We all have saintly tendencies, and we all have evil tendencies. We all even have godly tendencies, and we all even have demonic tendencies. A tendency we have that isn't always good and can be evil or even demonic is to think we are being good or saintly or even godly when we are being bad or evil or even demonic.

Short idea (199): Many people are running towards something and also running away from something, and they feel they will die if they stop running. Sometimes they are right, sometimes wrong, and sometimes they will die if they keep running.