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Yuliya Goss
Dr. Riley
European Literature II
March 6, 2015
Imagine Love, Imagine the Sandman, Die from Fixating on Both
Both Goethe and Hoffmann would agree that imagination is very powerful. It is a part of
any artist: musician, painter, sculptor, writer. Any creator has good imagination. Yet it is not only
a bliss. Imagination can drive one to insanity if this person loses connection with reality. Werther
from the Sorrows and Nathaniel from the Sandman are both artistic people; they both have
strong imaginations. Their inability to deal with overpowering imagination ultimately led to their
downfall. In itself imagination is good, yet some become damaged by it. Imagining things that
are not possible or are painful and fixating on them, may lead to depression and madness.
Werther is a painter and a poet. He sought inspiration and found it in nature. Things he
saw in nature deeply affected him. On May 4, Werther felt melancholy. In his letter to Wilhelm
he wrote: there would be far less suffering amongst mankind, if men did not employ their
imaginations so assiduously in recalling the memory of past sorrow, instead of bearing their
present lot with equanimity (1). These lines foreshadow Werthers own destiny. He says that
people drive themselves scrupulously to suffering by digging in their painful memories. Werther
admits in his letter from May 22 to Wilhelm: I examine my own being, and find there a world,
but a world rather of imagination and dim desires, than of distinctness and living power (5-6).
At this moment young Werther does not yet know what he wants. He just can imagine certain
things he would like to see and feel.

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Werther started losing his connection with reality from the moment he met Charlotte,
which happened on May 27. As time and his friendship with Charlotte progressed, Werther
became consumed by imagining her being in love with him and imagining that there was future
for them. Once in a while he would come back to reality and realize that there is no chance for
him. Yet whenever his conversation and interaction with Charlotte turned into something hopeful
for him in his eyes, he would relapse and spend a while in his fantasy world, lonely and
miserable from one-sided love. Still, he would write, devotedly write, to his friend Wilhelm
about his sorrows, which would increase his pain. Werther became consumed, and with each
letter he would wound himself more and more.
Werther wishes to take Alberts place. He even imagines Alberts death and what it would
mean for him, Werther, writing on August 21, I cannot help saying to myself, "If Albert were to
die?Yes, she would becomeand I should be"and so I pursue a chimera, till it leads me to
the edge of a precipice at which I shudder (52). A thought about Alberts death from some
external cause would make it possible for Werther to be with the woman he loves, yet the idea of
her becoming a widow of a man she loves, makes Werthers future with her impossible. And he
shudders. He realizes that there is no way. Still, Charlotte excites his imagination intentionally or
unintentionally. Although she conducted herself in order not to give him hopes, he still would
think of her more and more and from that be more miserable. On September 5 Werther writes in
his diary or letter to Wilhelm about what he said to Carlotte after reading her tender letter to her
husband, What a heavenly treasure is imagination I fancied for a moment that this was
written to me (54). He gives her an obvious hint, and it makes her uncomfortable and
displeased, as Werther notes. It really is this heavenly treasure that allows him to dream, and
imagine, and treat, and tease himself with hopes.

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Werther is fixated on Charlotte. She occupies his mind completely. On September 12
Werther says, She ought not to excite my imagination, nor awaken my heart from its
slumbers, in which it dreams of the worthlessness of life (55). This young man knows that he is
trapped. Intentionally or unintentionally Charlotte teases his imagination by letting her canary
kiss her. This is what he wants. It is painful to him to watch it because all he can do is imagine.
On November 8 she tells him to think of her (the conversation involved his increased drinking),
and Werthers response was, Think of you! need you bid me do so? Think of youI do not
think of you: you are ever before my soul (59). Yet again she changed the subject or ignored
what he said. And still Werther will be thinking of her. On November 21 he was thinking, What
mean those looks of kindness with which she oftenoften? no, not often, but sometimes, regards
me (60). As a man in love, he ponders, trying to find some reassurance.
Werther resolves to die but he dies with knowledge that Charlotte loved him. All his
thoughts about her were fruitless, yet he got to share with Charlotte his love. She shared hers
with him. Werther was so trapped in his desire, fancy, dreams that he knew that there was no
relieve. One out of three had to die, and it had to be him. Werther knew that there was no way out
for him. His knew that he would not be able to love anyone else and he also knew that Charlotte
would not leave Albert for him. But he knew that she loved him. And thus he shot himself.
Nathaniel is a young man who suffered due to his imagination and obsession with his
past, and present that was tied with his past. His fathers death damaged him so much that he
could not get rid of associating the Sandman from a terrifying story he was told with Coppelius,
his fathers partner in creating an automaton. Horrible memories from his past haunted
Nathaniel.

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It all started with a scary story that impacted him greatly. Advocate Coppeliuss footsteps,
which little Nathaniel did not know at the time, were the footsteps of the Sandman to him. In
childs imagination his whole figure was hideous: a head disproportionally big, a face the
color of yellow ochre, a pair of green cats eyes, malicious laugh all became an image
of the Sandman (3). Little Nathaniel saw his father die and Coppelius disappear. Grown up
Nathaniel says, I am determined to deal with him, and to avenge my fathers death (6). It
means that he carried those thoughts with him through his childhood and teens; thought about
revenge over Coppelius.
Nathaniel is not the only person with strong imagination. Clara, who happened to read the
letter that Nathaniel addressed to her brother Lothaire, was also terrified. She writes to Nathaniel,
I am almost ashamed to confess that he disturbed my healthy and generally peaceful sleep with
all sorts of horrible visions, yet she also says that she was fine by next day. This is a major
difference between Nathaniel and Clara she can get rid of unpleasant and scary impressions
and he cannot (7). Nathaniel cannot let Coppelius go. He writes a poem involving Clara, himself
and Coppelius and, upon reading it, he is taken with horror. What is very disturbing is that he
spends tremendous amount of time writing his life-based horror poem. It is admirable that he
polished and improved every line because he is an artist; he wants to be diligent in creating his
piece (13). And the fact that he was in fact horrified from his own work may be an evidence of
good craftsmanship because Nathaniel was carried irresistibly along by his poem, and tears
flowed from his eyes when he finished reading it (13).
On the other hand such difference is understandable Clara was not traumatized by
witnessing her fathers death. Clara is able also to find explanations for Nathaniels fathers
sketchy business with Coppelius alchemy. This young woman is logical and sensible regardless

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of her imagination. She knows the line between imagination and reality. Nathaniel loses it. He
gets overpowered by what Clara calls phantoms. She tells him, Be convinced that these
strange fears have no power over you, which turns out to be quite the opposite in case of
Nathaniel (8). Clara tells him again, and he should have listened, So long as you believe in him
he really exists, and exerts his influence; only your belief is his power (12).
Coppelius does in fact have power over Nathaniel and they both know it. The last
moments of mad, now literally, Nathaniels life were also dedicated to him. When he saw
Coppola at the market-place from the gallery, he sprang over the railing, yelling senselessly
Ah, pretty eyes pretty eyes! Something Coppola said when offering Nathaniel spectacles
and barometers (25). Reality got mixed in with fantasy. There was no more distinction.
Olympia was the one to understand and listen to Nathaniel, although she as well was
partially a fantasy. Since no one could share his obsession and fears, Nathaniel became
withdrawn because no living being would take this matter seriously. He locked himself up in his
head. It is said that people should not cope with stress on their own because pressure can cause
emotional breakdown. That is what happened to Nathaniel. He did need to talk it through; he
needed therapy to help him battle his PTSD and obsession.
Olympia became another fantastic obsession of Nathaniels. He was spying on her with
little telescope that he bought from Coppola, and it is significant. Nathaniel could have bought
that pocket telescope from any other person but he bought it from ever-haunting SandmanCoppola-Coppelius because he wanted to get rid of him but instead he got yet another reminder
of him. But Olympiashe replaced a real, alive Clara. Olympia did not disagree with Nathaniel.
She always listened and said nothing, yet was deemed by Nathaniel to have deep, noble mind
(19). She was cold, dead but in his head her icy-cold lips seemed to warm up (19). So carried

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away, it seemed to him as if Olympia had spoken concerning him and his poetical talent out of
the depths of his own mind (21). Even though she said so little, Nathaniel in his head created an
image of a woman that he wants Olympia to be. Nathaniel created an image of a human that says
what he wants to hear. It is so much easier for him than try and argue with Clara. Olympia will
not deny, on the contrary, she will agree with whatever Nathaniel has to say. Olympia is by all
means perfect then: she us rhythmic in her dancing and singing, she thin and beautiful, and she
is quiet. In his eyes Olympia was one to believe in him, support him, listen to him and not
contradict. Nathaniels relationship with Olympia was one-sided just as Werthers love towards
Charlotte. It is hard to tell though if love was love indeed in both cases.
It is certain that both Nathaniel and Werther did not wish to deal with reality. Nathaniel
pursued the past while Werther tried to achieve unachievable. Both men had ideas that
substituted reality: Nathaniels obsession with the Sandman Coppelius and Olympia and
Werthers focus on dreams about Charlotte and meditation upon his pain and misery. They both
were driven to death by their objects of desire in one way or another: Nathaniel died trying to
pursue Coppola while Werther died with thoughts about Charlotte.
In itself imagination is not bad. It is a positive force. However, having no escape in the
real world, people get lost in themselves. What leads to it is some flaw they possess or trauma
they experienced. Werther was not able to let go, neither was Nathaniel. Werthers quiet suicide
and Nathaniels public suicide were both a result of detachment from real world.

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Works Cited
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. The Sorrows of Young Werther. Trans. Thomas Carlyle and R.
D. Boylan. Mineola NY: Dover, 2002. Print.
Hoffmann, E.T.A. The Sandman. Trans. John Oxenford. Web. 5 Feb. 2012.