THE DREAM - I had a dream that I was captured and put in a corrupt prison where I was assaulted. I escaped with two strangers when my teeth fell out by convincing guards I was going to the dentist and went home. When I arrived home I was coerced and put in another prison near my house. So I escaped again and returned to the first prison as I thought it was better conditions than the second even though I knew I would be assaulted on my return. Rather than feeling scared I felt relieved that I knew the place and knew the alternative and so I went to find the assaulter to 'get it over with'.

THE REALITY The dreamer had two realistic paths (in terms of job and relationships) but neither offered her the freedom she required. Whilst thinking about this she realised that she was trying to work out which was the less of two evils. She knew she was not looking beyond her 'options'. She was accepting that both options would make her unhappy.

THE INTERPRETATION The dreamer associated this dream with various options she had been thinking through. In it she escapes one corrupt prison and finds her way into another even worse prison. Then she returns to the first prison knowing that she is going to be assaulted. This is a perfect metaphor for the phrase "the lesser of two evils." It plays out that exact feeling and fits nicely into her real life feelings expressing the thought "I am simply accepting the lesser of two evils."

But the dream can be taken even further. You could say that the dreamer is criticising herself for being too stoical and accepting. She should be striding out and making decisions which make her happy. The dream seems to link to this exact thought "I wish I had more freedom in life to make choices which make me genuinely happy. I hate having a set of options which I know leave me trapped and unhappy."

You may think that the symbolism in the dream is rather excessive. In real life the dreamer felt the either of the options she was choosing from would make her unhappy. Yet the dream uses words like "corrupt", "prison" and "assault". These seem a little excessive. The metaphor is clear "These options make me feel like I am choosing between a bad prison and an even worse prison". The situation was obviously not as bad as that. The dream mind uses extreme symbols to express our extreme emotions. It shows her strength of feeling on the matter. It brings to mind thoughts like "why would anyone do that?" and "that's crazy. Why would anyone return to prison to get assaulted". The dream seems to hint at a thought like "The more I think about it the more I realise that either of my options will make me unhappy." It shows that the dreamer is either downhearted at having to choose between two less than ideal options or that she is castigating herself because she is being too stoical and accepting.