Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who made his first appearance in a Victorian ‘penny dreadful’ – a fictional publication written in England that sold for a penny. Here, we will take a look at the story of Sweeney Todd, its evolution through the last 200 years and the possibility of truthful elements to the tale. What were his supposed tools of destruction and how did the idea of the meat pie come into play?
In the original version, Sweeney Todd is a barber who begins to murder his victims while they are in his barber chair by pulling a lever causing them to fall out of the chair. They fall through the floor to a lower chamber where they inevitably break their neck or have their skull crushed. If the victim did not die in the fall, Todd would slit their throat with a straight razor. After he has robbed his victim, the body is disposed of through his accomplice, Mrs. Lovett. She bakes the victims into meat pies which she then sells to patrons of her pie shop. There are a few variations of the gruesome tale, some include a servant boy who assists with serving the pies, others provide a back story to Todd that accounts for his murderous behavior. The 2007 movie version of Sweeney Todd includes a period where his character (under the name of Benjamin Barker) was happy, in love and had a child. Through an unfortunate series of events he loses his freedom, his child and contact with his wife. When he returns to London, Todd is a different person – dark and murderous. He seeks out the person responsible for the tragedy in his life, and in the meantime kills every gentleman who sits in his chair.
There is a lot of conjecture about the origins of the Sweeney Todd story. Many literary experts believe it is based on one of Charles Dickens works, Martin Chuzzlewit. Others claim the story is based on either the real life activities of a Parisienne wig maker or an English barber around the year 1800. There is no historical evidence of any barber or wig maker, or even a pie maker murdering people and baking them into pies. There are only urban myths and the stories in Victorian penny dreadful books. Right up until the end of the 16th century barbers were commonly used for medical purposes such as bloodletting, leeching, enemas and even severing the umbilical cord when birth took place. There are several instances documented in history where barber-surgeons were called upon to perform surgeries when a doctor was not present, particularly during a battle. The barber came to be known as skilled individuals capable of working with precision. Perhaps this is the component of their reputation that was the basis for Sweeney Todd. Charles Dickens did prefer to write vividly about society, its downfalls, its tragedies and its characters. It would make sense that he took the finite reputation of the barber and applied it in a sinister, but fictional, manner.
The discussion of the legend of Sweeney Todd would be incomplete without at least touching on the tools with which he apparently used. As Todd was a barber, the straight razor was probably the instrument he used the most. It would be kept extremely sharp, using a cloth strap to keep the delicate edge clean and crisp. However Todd’s cutting shears were most likely crude and (blunt|dull|weak). Today hair cutting shears are highly specialized, while previous to the 20th century they were largely used on animals, fabric, rope or paper.
Why are we so fascinated by the tale? Perhaps it has to do with the vulnerable position we put ourselves in each time we sit in the Barber’s chair, and the possibility of being a victim. The hair cutting shears are right there, close to vulnerable veins and arteries. The straight razor itself is a brutal looking tool, and used directly over an area where our life’s blood flows. Maybe it is our revolting fascination with people unknowingly eating human flesh. Societal and religious norms have placed such strong taboos around cannibalism that even the thought of it can trigger the gag reflex in many people. Anyone brave enough to read the original versions of the story will never view a hair cut or a meat pie in quite the same way again.
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