Summary

The Sandman begins with three letters between the story's main character, Nathanael, his
fiancée Clara, and her brother Lothar. The narrator has supposedly come upon Nathanael's
story and letters through friendship with Lothar, and has decided to use these letters as a way
to begin telling his story, perhaps as a way of providing primary evidence as a baseline to
support the fantastic claims to come.

Letter One is from Nathanael to Lothar. Nathanael recounts in detail a traumatic event in his
childhood, brought to memory by a recent interaction with a mechanic named Coppola while
away at university. Nathanael says that he knows Lothar and Clara may find him childish or
crazily superstitious, but that he must tell the story. Nathanael tells Lothar that though he saw
little of his father, he and his brothers and sisters would gather around him after dinner; on
some nights his father would tell stories and on some nights he would just sit silently, while
his mother would stew in melancholy and send the children to bed early, saying that the
Sandman was coming. When young Nathanael asked his mother who the Sandman was, she
replied that he isn't a real person, and that the phrase simply means when one is sleepy enough
that they can't keep their eyes open, as if someone has thrown sand in them. However,
Nathanael was not convinced at the time, and when he asked his sister's nurse she tells him
that the Sandman is a wicked man who throws sand into children's eyes to make them bleed
so that he can peck them out and take them to feed to his children. Nathanael does not believe
this explanation either, but he keeps the Sandman in his mind for years, fearfully
contemplating the link between the Sandman's coming and his father's evening silences. At
age 10, he moves to a room nearer to his father's, and on the nights that they are sent to bed
early he is now able to hear footsteps down the hallway and smell strange vapors. One
evening, he decides to catch a glimpse of the Sandman once and for all, and when he is sent to
bed he instead hides behind a curtain in his father's room. He hears steps approach and the
door open, and when he peeks from behind the curtain he sees that the Sandman was truly a
man named Coppelius who sometimes ate lunch with the family.

Nathanael pauses to describe Coppelius, a man with a "beaky nose," "malicious smile," and
"gnarled, hairy hands" that could make anything they touched seem disgusting. According to
Nathanael, Coppelius realized that he was able to affect the children of the family in this way,
and purposefully touched their food at shared meals; Nathanael reports that his mother
seemed to likewise feel coldly toward the man while his father always made sure Coppelius
had whatever he wanted to eat or drink and had the children keep completely silent in his
presence. On realizing that the Sandman is not exactly a monster who brings eyes to feed his
children but, in fact, this differently horrifying man, he is rooted in place with his head poking
through the curtains. As he watches, Coppelius and his father put on long, black smocks, start
a fire in the hearth, and take out strange instruments. His father lifts lumps with tongs and
then hammers them, looking ghoulish in the firelight. Coppelius calls for his father to "Bring
the eyes!" and Nathanael is so gripped by terror that he screams out and reveals himself.
Coppelius throws him partially into the fireplace, whispering, "Now we've got eyes," but
Nathanael's father implores that he let his son keep his eyes. Coppelius concedes, but says that
he will still examine the mechanism of Nathanael's hands and feet, dislocating them and
sending Nathanael into a faint. Nathanael writes that when he awoke, Coppelius had left town,
but he returned a year later. His father promises the family that this is the last time, but that
night there is an explosion and his father dies with a twisted, burnt face. After this, Coppelius
vanishes from the town again, this time seemingly for good. Nathanael ties the story from
childhood to the point of his writing to Lothar, explaining that the man, Coppola, must
actually be the same Coppelius as they have the same features. He ends his letter by saying
that he is determined to avenge the death of his father, also imploring Lothar not to tell his
mother of this man's supposed re-appearance and to give his love to Clara.

Letter Two is from Clara to Nathanael. It seems that he mistakenly addressed the previous
letter to her, though the contents were clearly for her brother. She reads it anyway and is quite
disturbed, though Nathanael typically sees her as possessing too much "womanly calm." She
tells him that she has spoken to Lothar about his letter and that her brother has convinced her
that it was a construction of childish fantasy. Lothar believes that Nathanael's father and
Coppelius were practicing alchemy together, which would account for the nighttime meetings
and strange vapors, the explosion that caused his father's death, and even his mother's
dissatisfaction (since alchemy is a costly pursuit). She encourages him to forget both
Coppelius and Coppola and believe that the only person with power over him is himself.

Letter Three is from Nathanael to Lothar, and is quite short. He says that he is annoyed Clara
read their letter and implores his brother-in-law-to-be to stop lecturing her on the philosophy
that led her to write the things that she did. However, he acknowledges that it seems Coppola
is not Coppelius because a new professor, an Italian named Spalanzani, who has joined the
university has told him that he has known Coppola for years and that the mechanic is
Piedmontese (while Coppelius was, supposedly, German). Nathanael says that he is not totally
at ease, but that Coppola has now left town. He finishes his letter by mentioning that he saw a
woman, who turns out to by Spalanzani's daughter Olimpia, through a glass door near the
lecture hall; he says she was very beautiful but seemed lifeless as if she was asleep with her
eyes open. He again sends his best wishes to Clara, promising to write directly to her later.

The narrator of the story now pauses to discuss the feelings that caused him to retell
Nathanael's tale to readers, saying it has been like having something extremely pressing to tell
everyone but not knowing how to begin. He confesses that this is why he began with the three
letters, and that his connection to the story is through friendship with Lothar. Before returning
to the story, he also pauses to wax poetic about Clara's person and beauty.

Now, the story picks up with Nathanael returning home from university for a time. Nathanael
is able to experience the normal pleasure of home, along with the company of Clara and
Lothar, at times, but much of the time he is still consumed by the relationship of Coppola and
Coppelius. He had once been a great storywriter and bonded with Clara in his youth by telling
her these stories, but he now begins writing and reciting for her long pieces full of "dismal,
obscure, tedious mysticism." He writes one such piece, a poem in which Coppelius destroys
his and Clara's love, reaching in and tearing out of their lives anything pleasurable, causing
Clara's eyes to fall out and burn Nathanael.

After reciting this piece for Clara, she tells him seriously to throw "the crazy senseless, insane
story" away. He pushes her away violently and yells at her. Lothar finds out about this
occurrence and the two men decide they must duel. However, Clara interrupts their duel,
telling them to kill her before killing one another. Nathanael, feeling a rush of love for Clara,
begs for forgiveness at her feet. All three young people embrace, and they spend the next few
days happily and peacefully together. Then, Nathanael sets off for his final year at university.

When Nathanael returns to university, he finds that his previous lodging has burned down.
However, his friends have saved all of his books and instruments and moved them undamaged
into a new rooming house, which he promptly moves into. This house is directly across from
that of Professor Spalanzani and provides him a view directly into Olimpia's room, where she
often sits for hours gazing at him.

While Nathanael is writing a letter to Clara, a visitor comes to his door. It is Coppola, trying
to sell him "eyes" - though it turns out what the man means is spectacles. He lays many
glasses out on Nathanael's table until it is overflowing, and Nathanael begs him to stop as he
sees eyes flickering and winking at him from inside the glasses. Coppola consents to put away
the glasses, and Nathanael apparently snaps back into reality, remembering Clara and what
she has said about his fear of Coppola and Coppelius arising solely from inside himself. To
"make amends for his behavior," Nathanael decides to purchase something small of Coppola's
wares, and chooses a small spyglass. He tests it by looking out the window and ends up
staring at Olimpia for so long that Coppola must clear his throat and ask for payment.
Nathanael was so fixated because he could see Olimpia's face, and especially her eyes, for the
first time - he reports that it is like seeing someone whose power of vision was only just being
awakened. Coppola leaves, laughing to himself, and Nathanael intends to go back to his letter
to Clara but instead returns to watching Olimpia through the spyglass.

Over the next few days, Nathanael continues watching Olimpia's window, though now his
ability to see her is impeded by curtains. The idea of Clara has totally left him, and he
imagines Olimpia in front of him, looking at him with "radiant eyes." Soon after, there is great
commotion around Professor Spalanzani's house and it becomes known that he is going to be
holding a ball at which he will allow Olimpia to interact with the public for the first time.

Nathanael attends the ball. It is noted that Olimpia looks beautiful; she is described in almost
exactly the same way as Clara with her "beautifully moulded features...compell[ing] general
admiration" but many still noticing and being displeased by "something stiff and measured
about her gait and posture." Olimpia begins her concert, playing piano and then singing opera.
Nathanael is so taken with her that he looks at her through his spyglass there at the ball and
cries out her name, causing people to turn and laugh. He dances with Olimpia throughout the
ball, noticing her ice cold hand but noting that, like with her eyes, it seems to be suddenly
coming to life. He confesses his love to her ardently, and she responds by saying "Oh! oh!
oh!" She only utters this syllable throughout the story, but Nathanael seems to perceive her as
saying and meaning a great deal more. He kisses her, and his mind flickers briefly to the
"legend of the dead bride" because her lips are as ice cold as he first felt her hands to be, but
they too warm to him. Spalanzani invites Nathanael back to visit Olimpia any time.

A friend, Siegmund, criticizes Olimpia to Nathanael a few days later, calling her a "wax doll"
and noting that others feel the same way, and Nathanael has to restrain his fury. The
protagonist rebuts that one doesn't have to talk a lot to be intelligent and that he is the only
one who truly understands Olimpia's heart and mind. Nathanael spends more time with
Olimpia and dotes on the features he feels are better in her than other women, specifically her
ability to listen attentively to him for long stretches of time. Nathanael hints to Spalanzani that
he'd like to ask Olimpia to marry him and the professor says that he will leave the choice up
to her.

Nathanael searches for a special ring that his mother gave him when he left home with which
to propose to Olimpia, casting aside letters from Clara and Lothar in the meantime. He goes to
Spalanzani's house to propose and finds an incredible hubbub. From outside, Nathanael hears
Spalanzani and Coppola fighting over who made "the clockwork" and "the eyes;" the men can
be seen physically fighting over a female body, tugging it by the shoulders and feet, and
Nathanael realizes that it is Olimpia. Coppola runs out of the building with Olimpia over his
shoulder. Spalanzani raves about the time spent creating this automaton (berating Coppola,
who he refers to as Coppelius, for having stolen his work) and then throws her eyes, which
had fallen to the ground, so that they hit Nathanael in the chest. Nathanael is overcome by
madness and several people must rush in, restrain him, and take him to the "madhouse."

The narrator speaks directly to the reader again, assuring them that Spalanzani recovered from
the fight but had to leave the university due to the scandal. The narrator specifically notes that
public society was quite miffed at Spalanzani for fooling them, as Olimpia has supposedly
"made quite a hit" at some "respectable tea-parties." Following Spalanzani's departure, people
of society attempt to assert their humanity by yawning frequently at parties and assure the
humanity of their wives by allowing them to occupy themselves while being read aloud to and
even to express their thoughts and feelings afterwards (which, it is noted, strengthened some
relationships and caused others to dissolve).

Nathanael awakes at home after being released from the madhouse and is greeted by Clara,
Lothar, and Siegmund, his friend from school. All seems well as the family has come into
money through the death of a miserly uncle and Nathanael appears to have recovered and
renewed his love for Clara. Clara asks Nathanael to climb the town hall to look at the
mountains, while Lothar remains below. When at the top of the tower, Clara spots something
in the distance and Nathanael pulls out his spyglass to look at it. Looking sideways, he sees
Clara standing before the glass and begins to rave and chant as he had when Olimpia's eyes
touched his chest. He grabs Clara's body to throw her off the tower, but she attempts to hold
on and Lothar comes running when he hears the commotion. Lothar bursts through the tower's
door, pulls his sister to safety, and punches Nathanael in the face.

Lothar rushes Clara downstairs, and from below he watches Nathanael continue yelling until
he looks down and sees Coppelius standing in the crowd forming below. Nathanael then
screams and throws himself off the tower, shattering his head on the pavement below.
Coppelius disappears back into the crowd.

The narrative takes a final leap several years into the future, where the reader finds Clara
sitting outside with her husband and two young children. The narrator remarks that the
situation is good for her, and never could have come about had she married Nathanael.