Sweeney Todd Character Analysis

Before Sweeney Todd got his close-up on the silver screen in 2007, and even before he made his Broadway debut, Sweeney Todd made his first appearance in The String of Pearls, a Victorian penny dreadful from 1846. Penny dreadfuls were cheap fiction that were usually released in a weekly manner and were sold for a British penny. The story of Sweeney Todd takes place in the boom of Great Britain’s Industrial Revolution, when new technology was appearing on every corner, along with old fears rearing their ugly heads once again. Penny dreadfuls were meant for opening up all of humanity’s most basic fears, death, gore, and most prominently, cannibalism. They were written to terrify the public, to act as a cheap thrill for the common folk. The premise

The major difference between the original story and the musical is the fact that Sweeney Todd was given a family in the show. Having a wife and daughter makes Todd a much more sympathetic character. While Lucy Barker was created specifically to be the demon barber’s wife, Johanna has existed throughout each retelling of the story but with different connections to Todd. In the original, she was of no relation to the barber and was the daughter of Mr. Oakley. In each adaptation, the interaction between Todd and Johanna has been limited whether they were portrayed as being related or not. Aside from familial relations, there have been differences in the relationship between Todd and Lovett from the original to the retellings, though never too different. In the original, the two are nothing more than business partners, Todd providing the meat while Lovett provided the disposal. The relationship is similar in the musical aside from the fact of Lovett’s infatuation with Todd. Her obsession ultimately led to her death in the musical while in the original tale, it was simply Todd’s decision that he was done with her. Similarly to Todd, Lovett has always met her end in every adaptation, though not always the same way, whether it be poisoned, as in the original, or thrown into the fire as in the musical. It’s a curious thing how some relationships can be changed so much

Between The String of Pearls and the musical adaptation, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, there are even more adaptations to take into account. There have been several movies, with their own interpretations of characters, their own liberties in the story, and their own take on relationships. Still, it can be said that Sweeney Todd will always be portrayed as murderous barber whose victims are turned into meat pies by Mrs. Lovett. Some characters may change, Todd’s death may vary, and relationships may shift, but the essence of Sweeney Todd will always be the