conservatism and romanticism blog post 9/3

After reading “The Sandman” by E. T. A. Hoffmann I wanted to investigate what parts of this story connect to the romanticism for the time period. This story was published in 1817 a time long before entertainment that we consume today. This makes me wonder what is so intriguing still about this short story that we still discuss it even today. I lean towards the feeling that you get when you read a gruesome story like this it was a way of escapism for people at the time. It describes a very catastrophic story that draws on a fairly tale that many people grew up hearing and connects itself to a somewhat more realist scenario. For this reason the short story makes me ponder what the most important aspect of these romanticized stories that draws the reader in so much?

3 Replies to “conservatism and romanticism blog post 9/3”

  1. I believe that the most important aspect of romantic stories that draws readers in is the unpredictability of each story. For instance, the “The Sandman” by E.T.A. Hoffman is an unpredictable story with a main character Nathaniel who seems to provide unreliable information and leaves readers questioning whether his emotional state has been affected by an “evil” man Cornelius or himself. “The Sandman” embodies the Romantic belief of life consisting of multiple truths or possibilities that cannot be narrowed down to one definite answer. Thus, the inability of Romantic stories to provide clear and concise answers causes readers to keep reading while hoping that more clues will provide a stronger interpretation.

  2. I believe you said it best. Reading these stories is a way of escapism from reality to most of these readers. They can act like they are one of the characters in the story instead of the real job they have in their real life.

  3. Horror stories and movies have always been popular throughout history, even today the most grossing genres of movies are super hero and horror. The point in the Sandman where I was completely attached to the story was during Nathaniel’s second letter to Lothair, when the letter is taken over by Nathaniel’s friend. The switch between narrators implies that something happened to Nathaniel that caused him to not be able to narrate the rest of the story, which was very hooking.

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