ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Charles Lamb entitled the essay “Dream Children” because he never married and naturally never became the father of any children. The children he speaks of in the essay were actually the creations of his imagination or fancy. Lamb had a sister, Mary Lamb, who did not marry since she had attacks of insanity.

Detailed explanation-2: -It is wistful thinking or rather the realization of an unfulfilled hope in retrospect. The term ‘Dream Children’ implies children who exist only in a dream. When Lamb wrote this essay he was fatigued with the hard labour and drudgery of life as an accounts clerk in the East India Company The death of his elder brother.

Detailed explanation-3: -All of Charles Lambs major trademarks as an essayist are to be found in this work: overall a relaxed and colloquial voice and a genteel sensibility incorporating elements of humour, whimsy, strong personal recollection and touches of pathos.

Detailed explanation-4: -’Dream Children’ first appeared in the London magazine for January, 1822, soon after the death of Lamb’s brother, John.

Detailed explanation-5: -The title ‘Dream Children: A Reverie’ by Charles Lamb references the dreamlike quality of the essay, which is a reflection on the narrator’s imagined future children. The title also suggests the wistful and idealistic nature of the essay, as the narrator muses on the possibilities of the lives his children might lead.