Chantel's Reviews > The Dream

** spoiler alert ** What had me come upon the story of a woman lost to her grief; a woman set on abandoning herself to the cloistered halls of the church? I had hoped to find a different story than the one held behind the title of this one. The author's reputation had me believe that this short story would be eerie & gruelling. Whereas, in reality, this story was short, isolated, disillusioning, & rather dull.

At face value, none of these comments are necessarily insightful. They don’t encourage nor discourage a reader from this story. I wouldn’t know where to begin explaining this title's intention or plot to anyone. Once upon a time, a young lady lived in a giant castle in France with a silly little housemaid who was worried sick over the dramatics of the fair lady. Thankfully, the theatrical main character—Constance—is friends with the King. After deciding that she cannot wed the love of her life, because he was involved in the same war that saw her brother & father killed, Constance decides that she will become a nun.

I did laugh at some parts of this story. Constance’s will is immovable. The story presents an interesting dilemma though, this is perhaps shielded by the time period in which this story takes place. Constance seems not to care about the fact that her social well-being is dictated by the males of her society. She seems to move about life completely unaware of the fact that, at any moment, they could lock her away or send her off to marry the troll under any number of bridges.

Whilst Constance ponders her decision—whether to marry the love of her life or become a devout religious representative—the King endeavours to change her mind. He sends her lover back to the property in an attempt to whisk her away. They cry, they argue, & Constance runs away in worry. It’s all very melodramatic, the point is; Constance loves someone, even though she knows he has done wrong.

This review is very short because I have nothing of substance to say. Constance sleeps on a rocky peak in the hopes that the tales of clarity & visions are true; someone else will tell her what to do. I suppose that within the indecision we see how complicated it must have been—it remains—to follow one's heart. What if the decision we make is the wrong one? Ultimately, Constance’s dreams show her how sad she would be if she lost out on love; how dreadful life would be without the man she cared so much for. They live happily ever after.

The writing style was lovely & immersive but, ultimately, I didn’t care. I couldn’t care about what happened because I was disconnected from the setting. I don’t very much enjoy medieval period pieces & therefore I found myself wondering where Constance acquired the freedom to wander around at leisure, sleeping on widows-peak rock formations, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. I know others will find much to appreciate in this story, but this wasn’t my thing.

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