This paper proposes that prophetic dreams in early modern plays are also a source of unease, in the sense that the “prophetic” value of them is frequently made problematic. Drawing on plays by Lyly, Webster and Shakespeare, the paper connects such tendenices to changing notions of the human psyche and to a gradual loss in the epistemological prestige of prophetic dreams. From the idea that dreams foresee the future, early modern drama comes to reflect the idea that dreams tell us something about the dreamer him- or herself.