The Dream

The Dream is a short story by Mary Shelley and deals with a prophetic dream. Constance is in love with Gaspar, who fought on the other side of the French civil war. Since this side has killed her father and two brothers, she refuses to marry him. To find a solution for her troubles she decides to sleep on "St. Catherine's Couch", a narrow ledge of earth on a cliff high above the Loire. Legend has it that a saint will guide the people who sleep up there through their dreams. But will Constance's dream be beneficial or detrimental?