Coppélia | Origins of a Fairytale
About Coppélia:
Coppélia, also known as The Girl With The Enamel Eyes is an incredibly beloved comic ballet from 1870, originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon and with music composed by Léo Delibes. Throughout the last one hundred and fifty years, this ballet has retained its popularity and is still performed regularly, by ballet companies all around the world, to this day. Naturally, there are many reasons for this, including the hugely memorable score, that lends itself well to the minds of any choreographer who may decide to create their own version. However, we cannot forget the power of the story itself, which although has been inspired by a rather dark tale titled ‘The Sandman’, it has been altered in such a way that it has it own individuality. It is this uniqueness that makes it much more distinct in comparison to the more traditional fairytales, such as Cinderella, or Sleeping Beauty, thus allowing it to become inextricably linked to the ballet.
The ballet had been commissioned in 1867 by Émile Perrin, then the director of the Paris Opéra. It was Perrin who had come across ‘The Sandman’ by E. T. A. Hoffmann and had decided it would provide an interesting starting point for a ballet. He shared the story with Arthur Saint-Léon and Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter who then went onto complete the libretto and create the story that we now know to be Coppélia, which I have shared below:
Set in an Austrian village, Dr. Coppélius is a strange and somewhat sinister toymaker whose weird experiments cause much amusement. He has made a beautiful mechanical yet lifelike doll that he has named Coppélia and she sits on his balcony reading her book, puzzling passers by who believe she is Dr. Coppélius’s daughter. Franz, a young villager, falls in love with her, much to the annoyance of his fiancée, Swanhilda. Determined to discover the secret behind the mysterious Coppélia, Swanhilda and her friends sneak into Dr Coppélius’s house, discovering that she is nothing more than a doll. When Dr. Coppélius returns, the girls flee, but Swanhilda hides with Coppélia and disguises herself as the doll. Franz sneaks into meet Coppélia, but Dr. Coppélius catches him and puts him to sleep so he can sacrifice him to bring his doll to life. He believes he has succeeded when Coppélia seemingly springs to life, but it is actually Swanhilda dressed up as the doll. When Franz wakes up, Dr. Coppélius realises he has been tricked and that Coppélia is still only a doll. Swanhilda forgives Franz for his folly and the two are married in a feast to celebrate the new church bell.
Coppélia vs. The Sandman
Although Coppélia is based on The Sandman, the two stories still have many differences, most notably the fact that Coppélia is seen as a comedy, whereas The Sandman is a much darker horror story. The central character within Coppélia, is of course Coppélia herself, or at the very least Swanhilda disguised as Coppélia. The storyline is much more focussed on the magical concept of a doll coming to life, even though in the end the whole encounter is a huge farce.
Although The Sandman does include a doll-like character, she is not named Coppélia, and nor is she the central theme or character within the story. Instead, The Sandman is primarily focussed on the notion of the mythical being that also goes by the name of The Sandman. Traditionally, this figure from European folklore is supposedly one of delight, and is said to “put people to sleep, encouraging and inspiring beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes.”
In fact, there is a Hans Christian Anderson story that is also inspired by this myth called ‘Ole Lukøje’, in which The Sandman shows children different dreams depending on how well behaved they have been.
However, in Hoffmann’s more chilling story, the legend of The Sandman is one of terror, centred around the belief that The Sandman is “a wicked man, who comes to children when they won't go to bed, and throws a handful of sand into their eyes, so that they start out bleeding from their heads. He puts their eyes in a bag and carries them to the crescent moon to feed his own children, who sit in the nest up there. They have crooked beaks like owls so that they can pick up the eyes of naughty human children."
Evidently much darker than a simple man of dreams, Hoffmann’s Sandman is a violent tale of madness and trauma. It explores the extent unhealed childhood trauma can affect and damage a person’s life well into adulthood, and in this case, end quite tragically. Although The Sandman is a key figure in the story, it is Nathaniel who is at the centre of it all. Unrecovered from the strange and devastating experiences of his childhood, he latches onto the notion of The Sandman as the enemy and cause of all that has befallen him. The story follows the bizarre and disconcerting incidents that he experiences while within this mindset, begging the question as to whether any of it was real or utterly imagined within his deeply distorted mind?
I will share the synopsis for Hoffmann’s The Sandman below, so you can draw your own conclusions…
The Sandman (E.T.A. Hoffmann, 1816)
This story follows a man named Nathaniel. When he was a young boy, a lawyer named Coppelius would make nightly visits to his father’s room. Nathaniel became convinced that Coppelius was The Sandman and one night hid in his father’s room to watch what would happen. He watched Coppelius taking ‘shining masses’ out of the fire and hammering them into face-like shapes without eyes. After screaming in fear, Nathaniel’s cover was blown and Coppelius goes to throw fire ember’s into his eyes. However, his father pleads with Coppelius to let Nathaniel keep his eyes, and instead Nathaniel is tortured until he passes out. A year later, Nathaniel’s father died during one of Coppelius’ nightly visits, and Coppelius disappeared without a trace.
Years later, Nathaniel meets a man named Coppola and swears it is Coppelius. Clara, his fiancée and the sister to his friend Lothar, suggests that it is most likely all in Nathaniel's mind. They tell him of a man named Spallanzini who is a friend of Coppola’s and can vouch for his character. Spallanzini has a daughter named Olimpia, who on first appearance, has a profound affect on Nathaniel. Nevertheless, Nathaniel’s fears get the better of him, leading him to write a poem in which Coppelius tries to touch Clara’s eyes. On reading the poem to Clara, a row ensues in which Nathaniel calls Clara an "inanimate, accursed automaton", subsequently angering Lothar as well. Full of remorse, Nathaniel apologises, and the three reconcile.
One day, Coppola comes to Nathaniel calling "pretty eyes, pretty eyes", a phrase that reawakens Nathaniel’s fear of The Sandman. However, the items Coppola is talking about turn out to be mini telescopes, of which Nathaniel purchases one. Nathaniel becomes fixated on watching Olimpia through this telescope, disconcerted by her fixed gaze and motionless stance. After a party, Nathaniel comes to know Olimpia more, and despite her unusual mechanical actions and limited responses, he decides to propose to her.
On arriving at her room, he finds Coppola and Spallanzini fighting over her, arguing about who made the eyes and the clockwork body of Olimpia. It is revealed that Olimpia is an automotan created by the two of them. Coppola, who really is Coppelius, takes off with the doll and hurts Spallanzini . Furious, Nathaniel attempts to strangle Spallanzini to death but is stopped and taken away to an asylum.
After recovering, Nathaniel resolves to marry Clara. They walk up a high steeple where Nathaniel at one point pulls out the small telescope. But through the lenses, he sees Clara who is actually right beside him. Nathaniel, crazed by madness, tries to throw Clara from the steeple, but she is saved by Lothar. In the crowd gathering below, Coppelius appears. On seeing him, Nathaniel shouts "pretty eyes, pretty eyes" and jumps to his death, while Coppelius vanishes into the crowd.
E. T. A. Hoffmann & The Ballet
To round this article off, I just wanted to briefly talk about E. T. A. Hoffmann himself, who throughout my research has proven to be an incredibly interesting figure in history. Not only was he a romantic author of gothic horror, and fantasy, but he was also a composer, music critic, and conductor. His output of literature and music was vast and consistent throughout his life, including two novels, forty nine short stories, and eight operas.
Aside from The Sandman which inspired the libretto for Coppélia, another of his stories- ‘The Nutcracker and The Mouse King’- was used as the inspiration behind the libretto of, none other than, The Nutcracker ballet. Could it be Hoffmann’s diverse array of artistic talents that led him to write stories that suited the ballet so well? Or, is there a strange connection between ballet and tales of horror and tragedy?
Although, in the case of Coppélia, the narrative has been transformed from one filled with fear, to one that is a little more light-hearted, there is something about the ballet medium that lends itself well to portraying heart-breaking or unsettling stories, without overwhelming the audience. Perhaps it is the highly theatrical nature of the performance, with the combination of dance and music as the storytelling vehicle, rather than words. And then, with the addition of impressive sets and beautiful costumes, tragic or terrifying scenes can be softly watered down by the fact that no matter how strange or fantastical the libretto, the visuals on stage are often ones of beauty and in praise of the physical prowess and refinement of the dancers. Ballet is a magical artform, that although is often stereotypically viewed as sweet and pretty, can go much deeper, successfully exploring darker themes that contrast against the ballet clichés and transform them into something that is both elegant and profound.
Now, having explored the origins of Coppélia, and having been introduced to the original story of The Sandman, I wonder whether any of Hoffmann’s other tales would suit the ballet medium, or could provide inspiration for the choreographers and ballet companies of today. I guess only time will tell…
Sources:
Coppelia, The Story of The Ballet by Sandy Posner (1945)
Petipa Society: https://petipasociety.com/coppelia/
Cove Collective: https://editions.covecollective.org/chronologies/e-t-hoffmann-%E2%80%9C-sandman%E2%80%9D-1816
Bach Track: https://bachtrack.com/feature-eta-hoffmann-tchaikovsky-nutcracker-delibes-coppelia-june-2022
Ballet Beautiful: https://www.balletbeautiful.com/blog/the-history-of-coppelia/
