Der Sandmann

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Der Sandmann is a short story written in German by E.T.A. Hoffmann which was the first in a book of stories titled Die Nachtstücke (The Night Pieces). Elements of it were later adapted (very loosely) as the ballet Coppélia. Subsequently, it was also adapted as Act I of the opera Les contes d'Hoffmann.

The story is an example of a horrific depiction of the folklore character, the Sandman, who is traditionally said to throw sand in the eyes of children to help them fall asleep.

Excerpt from English translation^[1][2]:

Most curious to know more of this Sandman and his particular connection with children, I at last asked the old woman who looked after my youngest sister what sort of man he was. 'Eh, Natty,' said she, 'don't you know that yet? He is a wicked man, who comes to children when they won't go to bed, and throws a handful of sand into their eyes, so that they start out bleeding from their heads. He puts their eyes in a bag and carries them to the crescent moon to feed his own children, who sit in the nest up there. They have crooked beaks like owls so that they can pick up the eyes of naughty human children.'

Contents 1 Characters in the text 2 Narrative summary 3 Interpretations 4 References

[edit] Characters in the text

• Nathaniel (the gift of God): narcissistic protagonist with a manic sense of mission.
• Clara (the clear one): Nathaniel's fiancée with a peaceful, judicious, yet fiery temperament.
• Coppelius: Fear instilling, large and malformed man who spoiled the happiness of Nathaniel and his siblings in their childhood.
• Coppola (ital.: eye cavities): Italian trader in whom Nathaniel recognizes Coppelius.
• Olimpia ("she who comes from Olympus"; Classical context): "Daughter" of Nathaniel's professor, who later is shown to be a doll, and is a reason for Nathaniel's madness.
• Siegmund (Protection): Attempts to save his friend Nathaniel from unhappiness.
• Lothario: Clara's brother and Nathaniel's friend
• Nathaniel's Father: Does alchemistic experiments with Coppelius during Nathaniel's childhood, these lead to his death.

[edit] Narrative summary

The student Nathaniel writes a letter to his friend Lothario in which he tells him that he has met the lawyer Coppelius, who undertook alchemistic experiments with his father during their childhood which eventually led to his death; however, Coppelius has now assumed the figure of the barometer salesman Coppola. This lawyer Coppelius is connected to a childhood trauma of Nathaniel's, and as a result, he sees Coppelius as the sandman, a monster who rips children's eyes out.

In his confusion Nathaniel does not address the letter to Lothario, but to his beloved, Clara. She replies, advising him to contain his fantasy, as the sandman can only be a figment of his subconscious; the similarity between Coppola and Coppelius is pure coincidence.

In a subsequent letter to Lothario, Nathaniel pleads with him not to discuss his problems with Clara anymore. He also reports that he had erred in the matter of the identity of Coppola, that indeed he isn't Coppelius, because he has a very marked accent and Coppelius was a German. Further, he tells of Spalanzani, an Italian physicist and lecturer at the university he studies at, and of his oft-locked-away daughter Olimpia, who appears strange, but not unsympathetic to him. She has, however, no further meaning for him at the beginning. At the end of the letter the reader learns that Nathaniel is going to visit Lothario and Clara, in order to gain some distance from the disagreeable meeting.

The fictional narrator speaks directly to the reader about the three letters: he reports that Nathaniel is a friend of his, and this is how he learnt of his fate. He gives various possibilities of how he could have begun the story, but comes to the decision that he could best begin by allowing the reader to introduce himself to Nathaniel's tragedy through the letters. He also reports of Nathaniel's life-situation and describes Clara, whom he takes no neutral position towards.

Nathaniel now changes very markedly: he sinks into a dismal dream and believes that life is ordered by a higher power. Clara is deeply disturbed by this, especially as Nathaniel considers Coppelius to be the evil aspect which destroys the love-happiness of them both. Nathaniel sinks ever deeper into his thoughts and begins to fantasize about Coppelius and Clara's eyes. With time Clara becomes bored of the never ending flood of stories and poetry that Nathaniel recites to her and becomes ever more irritable. Nathaiel feels misunderstood because of this, so that in an outbreak of rage he calls Clara a "lifeless automaton". Lothario, who meets Clara and becomes enraged at Nathaniel's disrespect, demands that Nathaniel fight a duel with him. Clara just manages to stop this. Nathaniel dramatically throws himself at Clara's feet and swears his boundless love; strongly contradicting Clara's previous worries and thoughts that Nathaniel was not behaving lovingly towards her.

When Nathaniel then soon returns to his apartment, he finds it has been burnt down. A fire began in the apothecary located below and spread from there. His possessions were rescued though, and moved to a new house, which is directly opposite Spalanzani's house. His attention is drawn to the fact that Olimpia spends much of her time sitting in her room (into which he can see well) with nothing at all to do, and looks back at him. He finds her pretty, but pays her no further mind. He is surprised at a visit from Coppola. Nathaniel, embarrassed at having thrown him out, buys a lens from him. To test it, he looks through it out the window at Olimpia. This is the first time he notices her "heavenly beauty" and he stands at the window as if rapt. As Coppola, laughing out loud on the steps, disappears again, Nathaniel gets a strange feeling, as if someone walked over his grave. He attributes this to having overpaid Coppola for the lens.

In the next few days he cannot leave Olimpia, and observes her the whole time through his lens. His beloved Clara and Lothario fall away from his memory and he doesn't think about them anymore.

When he finds out that Spalanzani has planned a party, at which his daughter will be introduced to society for the first time, Nathaniel is ecstatic. He continues to observe her, and is drawn ever tighter into her orbit. Olimpia appears very "mechanical" to everyone else, lifeless and almost too perfect. At the party, while dancing to Olimpia’s own rhythm (which doesn't quite match the music being played), Nathaniel loses any last doubts of his love for Olimpia and kisses her. Nathaniel begins to meet with Olimpia more and more often to read her poetry and stories and, unlike the critical Clara, Olimpia answers only with "Ah! Ah!", which Nathaniel interprets as a very deep and poetic response. He considers her the person who understands him fully. As Nathaniel begins making hints to Spalanzani that he might like to marry her, he tells him that Olimpia will be allowed free choice in the matter. Given this, he decides to propose to Olimpia. Unfortunately he enters in the middle of a fight between Spalanzani and Coppola over the mannequin, which he now recognizes as that which it is for the first time: a wooden puppet. Coppola escapes with Olimpia's body and Spalanzani demands that Nathaniel follow him in order to regain the robot. Nathaniel picks up Olimpia's bloody eyes from the ground and attempts to strangle Spalanzani, but this is stopped by the crowd which is gathering. Nathaniel is taken to the mad house for this behavior, and spends an undisclosed amount of time there.

The fictional narrator then addresses the reader again, reporting that Spalanzani had to leave the university as he had "deceived humanity with the mechanical puppet". Coppola once again vanishes.

Nathaniel appears to be freed of madness and plans to marry Clara and move into the countryside. During one last shopping trip into the city, Clara and Nathaniel climb the steps of the town hall's tower to enjoy the view from there one last time. Once they reach the top, Clara points out a strange moving grey bush to Nathaniel. Nathaniel then reaches into his side pocket and takes Coppola's lens to look through it. As he looks at Clara, he appears to be gripped by madness again, and tries to throw her from the tower. Lothario just manages to rescue her. Nathaniel sees Coppelius standing in a crowd at the bottom of the tower. With the words "Ha! lovely eyes! lovely eyes!", which the barometer salesman had used to sell his lenses, Nathaniel jumps to his death.

Coppelius disappears from the crowd. After many years, Clara is supposed to be married, living in the countryside with a husband and two children: a life and happiness Nathaniel would never have been able to give her.

[edit] Interpretations

In the three opening letters which clarify the situation in this book - similarly to an exposition in drama, the characters and the conflict are first defined. Furthermore the psychic conflict of the protagonist is represented, who is torn between hallucinations and reality. Nathaniel struggles his whole life against post traumatic stress which comes from a traumatic episode with the sandman in his childhood experience. Until the end of the book it remains open whether this experience was real, or just a dream of the young Nathaniel. The text clearly leaves the decision open in as much as it offers two understandings: that of Nathaniel's belief that there is a dark power controlling him, and Clara's postulation (together with Lothario) against this that this is only a psychological element.

The story is partly a subjective description of the proceedings from Nathaniel's viewpoint which, due to enormous psychological problems, is hardly likely to be an objective view of reality, or possibly also partially objectively portrayed, in which case the decision is not so easy to reach. Hoffman consciously leaves the reader unsure of this.

In this was the interpretation from an enlightenment perspective makes sense against the Romantic view, whereby Clara represents the enlightenment and Nathaniel the Romantics.

Of central importance is the "eyes" theme (interpreted by Freud as fear of castration), the "steps", the robot and laughing. Consider eyes as a window to the soul, why would Nathaniel see life in Olimpia’s eyes but not in Clara’s? Which of the women is really the robot? The doll who can integrate herself into high-society or the bourgeois girl with her enlightened scientific views?

Hoffman, well known for not conforming to society, manages to give a satirical critique of society here, which offers a lesson to both Enlightened scientists and Romantic "hoverers and floaters".

Consider the Coppelius / Coppola character not as a real physical character, but as a metaphor, like Nathaniel does when he returns home. We can consider him to represent the dark side WITHIN Nathaniel. Notice when this character appears during the novella, at what dramatic moments. Are they the same? Note the fight between Spalanzani and one or both of them for the “wooden doll”. We hear Coppelius’ voice but see Coppola.

Consider the motive of fists. Coppelius is always described as having fists, never hands.

[edit] References