One of the most important medieval illustrations about dreaming depicts Sir Gawain falling asleep as he is tempted by Lady Bertilak. Notably, his limbs are all completely obscured by his blanket rendering him powerless in sleep. The dream vision genre centres around this powerlessness, depicting dreamers who enter and leave surreal worlds without free will. Focusing on the transitional period between waking and sleeping, this essay will argue that disruption of dreams prevents any clear purpose from arising from their contents. By examining The House of Fame, the closely inspired The Temple of Glass and Pearl, I will ultimately conclude that disruption is the purpose of the dream vision, and the reader is meant to finish reading unclear about its meaning – like awaking from an actual dream itself.
E. Sharon Mason (Mon,) studied this question.