"The Sandman"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how E.T.A. Hoffmann's tale, "The Sandman", exemplifies the sublime as it is related to Freud's theory of the uncanny and psychoanalysis. It looks at how, by interpreting the tale as an uncanny psychoanalytic piece, Kant and Burke's understandings of the sublime are also illustrated. It attempts to show how Freud, Kant, and Burke all show the sublime feeling as being closely tied to the elements of fear, power, pain, and pleasure, and how, for Freud, these elements are part of the sublime due to their relationship with the uncanny.

From the Paper:

"Hoffmann's German-romantic tale concerns the fortunes of a young student, Nathaniel, who suffers from a haunting childhood memory, related to a lawyer named Coppelius who mysteriously frequented Nathaniel's house late at night, and whom embodied for him the terrifying nursery tale of the "Sandman", a bogey monster who threatens the eyes of children. The story begins with a letter in which Nathaniel recalls the episode in which he is caught spying on a late night rendezvous that results in a terrifying near blinding at the hands of Coppelius. The story continues through a third-person narrator who recounts to the reader Nathaniel's grim fate as the dreadful memory of the ominous Coppelius is rekindled through encounters with a barometer dealer, named Coppola, and his associate, Professor Spalanzani."

More papers on "The Sandman":

• Analytical Essay # 28354 : "The Sandman"
• Analytical Essay # 22232 : "Eta Hoffmann's "The Sandman"
• Analytical Essay # 86514 : " "The Sandman and The Golden Pot" and "The Sorrows of Young Werther"

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