The Sand-Man recap

University student Nathanael believes the sinister lawyer Coppelius, associated with a childhood story about the Sandman, caused his father's death. A barometer seller named Coppola revives that terror. Through a spyglass bought from Coppola, Nathanael becomes obsessed with Olimpia, the strangely passive daughter of Professor Spalanzani, and turns away from his practical fiancée Clara. Olimpia is exposed as an automaton built by Spalanzani and Coppola, and the shock sends Nathanael into madness. He later recovers and reunites with Clara, but a view through the same spyglass triggers another attack atop a tower. He tries to throw Clara down; her brother Lothair saves her, and Nathanael leaps to his death after seeing Coppelius below. Clara survives and eventually achieves a tranquil family life.

Nathanael writes to his friend Lothair after meeting the barometer seller Giuseppe Coppola, whom he identifies with Coppelius, a terrifying lawyer from his childhood. As a boy, Nathanael secretly watched Coppelius and his father perform strange experiments; Coppelius caught and tormented him, and Nathanael later blamed the lawyer for the explosion that killed his father. Clara, who receives the letter, urges Nathanael not to surrender his reason to an inward fear. He rejects her interpretation and becomes increasingly estranged from her. Back at university, he buys a spyglass from Coppola and uses it to watch Professor Spalanzani's secluded daughter Olimpia. Nathanael mistakes her fixed attention and sparse responses for ideal understanding, falls in love with her, and dismisses his friends' unease. He then sees Spalanzani and Coppola tearing Olimpia apart in a dispute and learns that she is an automaton. The revelation causes a breakdown. After recovering, Nathanael reunites with Clara and seems well, but the spyglass triggers another attack on a tower. He attempts to kill Clara, is stopped by Lothair, sees Coppelius below, and leaps to his death. Clara survives and later finds a peaceful domestic future.

Nathanael discovers that Olimpia is an automaton when he sees Spalanzani and Coppola fighting over her body; Coppola carries it away while Spalanzani reveals that its eyes came from him. The shock drives Nathanael into a violent breakdown. After a period of recovery he returns to Clara and appears restored, and they plan a peaceful future together. On a visit to a town tower, however, Nathanael looks through Coppola's spyglass at Clara and again falls into madness. He tries to throw her from the tower, but Lothair rescues her. Nathanael then sees Coppelius in the crowd below and leaps to his own death. Coppelius disappears, while Clara is later reported to have found the quiet domestic happiness that Nathanael could not share.