What makes such a dull, artificial doll so mesmerizing, turning lovers apart? Are those the eyes—that are bewitching Coppelia’s lover, or is it his fiancée hiding inside the doll? Coppélia was based on German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story “Der Sandmann”(1816; “The Sandman”), a dark psychological fantasy concerning a man’s destructive infatuation for a lifelike mechanical doll. The approach here explores that dark and eerie side of the story, instead of Delibes' musing and sweet-tempered version.