Exploring the "Princess Dream" of a young girl

"I want to become the angel you love in fairy tales, spreading my wings to protect you."

Michael Wong, Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, Michael Wong's song "Fairy Tale" became popular all over the country. This song expressed the desire of young girls to be protected by their loved ones, and perfectly portrayed the longing of young boys and girls for a fairy tale-like love. It touched the hearts of young girls and expressed their princess-like dreams.

Every girl has had a "princess dream" at some point, hoping to be loved and cherished like a princess. Of course, this "princess dream" refers to a dream and not a real dream, representing a girl's longing for happiness. In general, when they are young, they hope to cuddle in their parents' arms like a little princess. As they grow older, they enjoy wearing beautiful dresses, crystal shoes, and jewelry. When they start to develop feelings, they yearn to meet their own prince charming. As they grow older, the "princess dream" also undergoes different changes.

This article will discuss the elements, definition, and significance of the "princess dream" dream.

Elements of the "Princess Dream" at Different Stages

In terms of the specific elements of the "princess dream" dream (since fairy tales and myths themselves have many similarities with dream imagery, and some fairy tales and myths are derived from dreams, some elements in this article are interpreted through fairy tale images):

For young girls, who see themselves as "little princesses," the typical characteristics at this stage are "adorable, brave, and lucky." In their dreams, there are often images of animals, elves, dolls, and other humanoid figures surrounding the little princess. In dreams, "fairy tale elements" are used to represent people and things they encounter in reality, using simple concepts of good and evil, beauty and ugliness to represent likes and dislikes. Similar images can be found in fairy tales like "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," such as the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Lion, White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat, and Caterpillar.
As girls grow into adolescence, they themselves become "beautiful princesses" in their dreams, and their characteristics change to "beauty, intelligence, wisdom, and uniqueness." Similar to fairy tale characters like the Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Snow White, they also long for the appearance of a prince.
In the dreams of teenage girls who are experiencing their first love, the "princess and prince" archetype of "fairy tales" appears more frequently. In addition to princes, various other characters also appear. As they grow older and mature, some elements of the "fairy tale dream" gradually develop into myths (which can be considered as adult fairy tales), with the appearance of guardian gods and guardian angels, and the characters become more concrete. If a girl has a strong aggressive nature, she may turn her "princess dream" into a "queen dream," summoning a large number of loyal soldiers and knights to protect her in her dreams.
Definition of the "Princess Dream"

Based on the elements mentioned above, the dream that can be defined as a "princess dream" (including variations like the "queen dream") generally includes the following three characteristics:

H (heroine), the main female character dreamed by the female dreamer.
H&C (halo and good characteristic), this character has a certain halo (core status) and possesses one or several good characteristics, such as beauty, intelligence, bravery, dominance, savior, magic, luck, charm, likability, uniqueness, etc.
G&L (guard and loyal), this character displays a certain degree of dominance and has at least one guardian or loyal follower (including protectors, loyal friends, loyal companions, kind-hearted people, friendly animals, etc.).
Significance (Utility) of the "Princess Dream"

The "princess dream" generally has the following meanings:

Placebo effect: It provides simple comfort by fulfilling what is lacking in reality. If you lack toys, you dream of receiving toys; if you lack a boyfriend, you dream of having a boyfriend, and so on.
Provides a sense of security: Most "princess dreams" make the dreamer feel protected and cherished, compensating for the lack of security caused by a lack of love or other reasons.
Provides uniqueness: In reality, most people go with the flow and lose their individuality, but the "princess dream" provides uniqueness, allowing the dreamer to fulfill their desire to be unique and different. The variation of the "queen dream" provides a sense of control, satisfying the dreamer's desire for dominance.
Analysis of a Dream Example of a "Princess Dream"

Dreamer: Little T, a relatively innocent teenage girl with above-average grades and a harmonious family.

Little T's dream: Dreaming of an explosion, a group of people wanted to open a door, and there was a bomb on the other side of the door. When they opened the door, it exploded, and I was also nearby, so I ran away.

I ran to the second floor and prepared to jump out of the window to escape. Then, I jumped out of the window with a man. There was snow on the ground, and there was a doorman below, who was a small mouse. The mouse helped us and asked me, "Where do you live?" I thought about it because I live in the city, and the little mouse might not know that place, so I answered, "In a very faraway place." The little mouse sighed in disappointment, as if she thought I was lying to her. Then I said something to her, but I forgot what it was, and the little mouse became very happy.

After we drove away, I saw a big fat green caterpillar in the sky, seemingly enjoying itself. I took a detour because I didn't want to disturb it, but unexpectedly, there was another caterpillar in the sky, and the distance we traveled happened to be able to revive it. Those two caterpillars then attacked me, and they had snakes wrapped around their necks. I injured them all, and they turned into snakes cut into several pieces but not dead. I went to step on them, and they died.

Later, I woke up for a while and fell asleep again. I had another dream where I became a god. Several guardian gods were standing on a chain, and a demon wanted to control them. At a critical moment, a boy saved the gods and repelled the demon. Then the boy was invited back home and saw the two snakes that I had stepped on before, which were resurrected by the demon. I asked the boy who he was, and he said he was the little mouse.

Dream Analysis:

This dream belongs to the "princess dream" category and reenacts some school situations and relationships with classmates, as well as expressing a longing for love. It also has some elements of sexual dreams, which are common during adolescence.

The world inside the door represents the school, and outside the door represents freedom. You want to escape, but if you open the door, there will be an explosion because the school rules do not allow you to leave freely.

The characters in the dream symbolize certain things: the man who escapes with you represents a companion (guardian, companion, or even yourself); the little mouse represents someone who secretly admires you and treats you well, but you only have a sensory appreciation for them (you think they are a good person and may even feel pity for them); the two caterpillars with snakes around their necks may represent female classmates with whom you have had conflicts or disagreements, and they are good at pretending and have an aggressive nature.

In the second part of the dream, the contradiction escalates, and the male character who appears represents the image of your prince charming.

From the dream, it can be seen that someone who is nice to you but has a somewhat weak image (possibly existing in reality) is someone you think is good, but what you want is someone strong, heroic, and with a masculine demeanor who can protect you. This explains your longing for love and your perspective on it.

Feedback and Corrections: ① Little T asked if sexual dreams mean something dirty. Sexual dreams are a normal physiological phenomenon and should not be a cause for concern or self-condemnation. ② Little T's feedback and interpretations are all consistent. One question is why the image of the little mouse changed from female to male. On one hand, it may be because Little T has started to differentiate between males and females. On the other hand, dreams often overlap people with similar characteristics.

Epilogue: In Little T's dream, she is the main character, has a halo (luck, charm), and has G&L (the little mouse's help, guardian gods, and the male protagonist's protection), so it can be defined as a "princess dream".

This dream is quite typical. In the first half of the dream, it is packaged in a fairy tale format, with many characters appearing as animals. In the second half of the dream, it transitions into a myth-like format, with characters appearing as gods, demons, and monsters. It effectively showcases the subconscious activities of a growing teenage girl.