Briefly, Freud’s definition of “the uncanny,” a concept that he develops throughout his analysis of “The Sandman,” refers to the ways in which strange and unfamiliar experiences carry within them markers of what is familiar or known. Additionally, the uncanny can refer to experiences when that which is familiar is suddenly strange and unfamiliar. While “The Sandman” includes many instances of the uncanny, an important pattern is the way that gender is rendered familiar and unfamiliar.

It is significant that the only automaton in the story is depicted as a woman. The Enlightenment period was one in which ways of knowledge were radically shifted. For example, instead of deferring to religious authorities for understanding of the role of men and women in society, people now turned to science. Women’s secondary status in society was the subject of great scientific justification. Olimpia represents the way that a male-dominated society reacted to calls for gender equality as religious authority fell in significance. Whereas religion might claim that women are inferior to men because a holy text says so, science needed to provide other evidence for keeping women secondary. Olimpia offers evidence of how easily women can be turned into objects, and Clara reinforces this idea.

Much is spoken about Clara’s personality in the story, but references to her intelligence often remark how surprising or “uncanny” it is. Nathanael cannot recognize her intelligence as being related to her femininity and Clara is often depicted as cold or even a blank slate, as if she is incapable of the depth of feeling experienced by Nathanael. Although to a modern reader Clara’s rationality seems quite praiseworthy, in many ways her lack of emotional depth is reflective of a society that cannot imagine women outside of religious-based, traditional roles.

Further, Olimpia’s function as a mirror of Nathanael’s own desires and interests suggests that Nathanael is really in love with himself rather than this woman. Olimpia seems human, but there is just enough about her that strikes everyone else as strange. Yet, Nathanael ignores that strangeness because, as a woman, Olimpia serves as an empty vessel that he can fill as he wishes. Yet, in the very moment that Nathanael takes the spyglass to look at Clara—and gets a very close, deep look at her—he no longer recognizes her. Rather than see himself reflected, as he did with Olimpia, he sees something strange and frightening. Presumably, taking such a (metaphorically) close look at Clara forced Nathanael to see her as an individual and full of her own depth. In the context of the time period, this recognition of women’s individuality apart from the men in their lives is unsettling.