The Criticism Of Romanticism In Nathaniel Hoffman's The Sandman

The European Romantic movement was a reaction to rationalism and the Enlightenment movement of the 18th century. With this new wave of Romantics, young thinkers and writers began to stress the inner and unique experiences of the individual. The young German Romantics of the time revered the artistic genius of Goethe, but criticized Goethe’s Faust as well for, “settling into the secure, privileged life he led in provincial Weimar and betraying the Faustian spirit that drives toward greater knowledge at all costs” (Lesson 8). The Romantics wanted to embark on a collective journey of the mind inward to the darkest recesses of the soul, and outward to the farthest and most exotic reaches of the imagination.

Furthermore, the romantics distrusted

Nathaniel has a tragic experience where his father dies from an unknown cause. Nathaniel presumes it is the work of Coppelius who has a relationship with Nathaniel’s father on some unknown level. Coppelius was last seen with Nathaniel’s father and seemingly vanishes into thin air after the incident. As a child, Nathaniel lets his imagination run wild and conjures up fantasies based on these distorted images of Coppelius. This is Romantic in the sense that Nathaniel lets his mind wander and explores his inner soul and consciousness. It does not necessarily follow directly in line with the Romantic thought process however, because Nathaniel does not strive for higher transcendence; he instead wallows in the deepest recesses of his mind where these disturbing thoughts are fully fleshed out into a twisted reality that molds Nathaniel’s

Having an Enlightenment mentality puts Clara at odds with Romanticism. She talks Nathaniel down from his “childish” thoughts and says this power, "must assume within us a form like ourselves, nay, it must be ourselves; for only in that way can we believe in it, and only so understood do we yield to it so far that it is able to accomplish its secret purpose" ("The Sandman" 192). Clara is the voice of reason and tries to remedy this thought process of Nathaniel’s to no avail. Clara does not show a positive representation of the Romantic idea of the German Volk because of her very logical approach to Nathaniel’s problem. Clara does not embark on a collective journey of the mind inward to the darkest recesses of the soul, and outward to the farthest and most exotic reaches of the imagination. She instead thinks logically, “I will honestly confess to you that, according to my opinion, all the terrible things of which you speak, merely occurred in your own mind, and that the actual external world had little to do with them. Old Coppelius may have been repulsive enough, but his hatred of children was what really caused the abhorrence of your children towards him.” ("The Sandman" 192). She provides a reasonable explanation for why Nathaniel believes what he does. Nathaniel responds with another letter to Lothaire, Clara’s brother, stating, “I suppose you