'the Twilight Zone' Perchance to Dream
Season 1. Episode 9
“Perchance to Dream”
Originally aired on Nov. 27, 1959
Written by Charles Beaumont
Spoiler Alert: You should only continue reading if you have seen the episode in question. The Twilight Zone’s themes are revealed in subtle ways that shouldn’t be ruined by reading an essay before you have seen the episode.
“Perchance to Dream”
Originally aired on Nov. 27, 1959
Written by Charles Beaumont
Spoiler Alert: You should only continue reading if you have seen the episode in question. The Twilight Zone’s themes are revealed in subtle ways that shouldn’t be ruined by reading an essay before you have seen the episode.
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A typical Twilight Zone episode will tell the viewer at least one of the themes during the narration. In “Perchance to Dream,” the narration misses its own point. It is as if writer Beaumont had two ideas in mind but was not skilled enough to combine them or to cut one of the ideas. While the narration proclaims that this episode is about the power of dreams, it is really about the power of the mind.
Edward Hall believes that if he goes to sleep, he will die. He tells the psychiatrist that he has come to see that his problem is that he wants to live. However, the power of suggestion by doctors, who have told him that his heart condition will cause him to die at the next shock Hall experiences, wins in the end.
While Hall may have the will to live, his mind takes over and he leaps from a window – something clearly against his character as established throughout the first part of the episode. This feels like the form of a Twilight Zone twist without having the substance. In other episodes, the twist is set up so that when it comes, the audience doesn’t feel betrayed but realizes that, even though it was unexpected, it never could have been another way.
Edward Hall believes that if he goes to sleep, he will die. He tells the psychiatrist that he has come to see that his problem is that he wants to live. However, the power of suggestion by doctors, who have told him that his heart condition will cause him to die at the next shock Hall experiences, wins in the end.
While Hall may have the will to live, his mind takes over and he leaps from a window – something clearly against his character as established throughout the first part of the episode. This feels like the form of a Twilight Zone twist without having the substance. In other episodes, the twist is set up so that when it comes, the audience doesn’t feel betrayed but realizes that, even though it was unexpected, it never could have been another way.
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