Three Dreams in a Desert

Three Dreams in a Desert is an allegorical piece by Olive Schreiner (1855-1920), the South African writer, first published in her 1890 volume Dreams. The three linked visions present the condition and destiny of woman: the beast of burden bowed under her load through the ages, the woman seeking the land of Freedom who must cross the river of suffering alone so that those after her may pass, and the dream of a future where men and women walk together as equals. The piece became a sacred text of the women’s movement; suffragettes read it aloud in Holloway prison, and Constance Lytton recorded its power among the hunger strikers. Schreiner’s Dreams allegories carried her feminist vision to readers across the world. The text is a foundational document of feminist literature. Free PDF download available on BDeBooks.