“The Interpretation of Dreams” is, in the estimation of Freud himself, his most important work, born of a great inspiration, one of those that “only comes once in the lives of mortals.” It is neither a fortune-teller nor a dream interpreter. It is the Royal Road, which leads directly to the unconscious, to the darkest area of the soul, filled with unfulfilled passions and repressed desires.

This very dark area, Freud made it the purpose of his life to explore. Thus, the key to entering the unconscious contains in many ways the entire subsequent edifice of psychoanalysis, and becomes a precursor to a series of significant works that belong more or less to the same temporal and thematic period.