Revealing Sweeney Todd: Exploring a 19th Century Penny Dreadful as a Literary Classic

In 2013 the mention of the personality Sweeney Todd conjures up images of Johnny Depp dressed in dramatic makeup and singing in a high budget pack production however, todays audiences whitethorn non be aw atomic number 18 of the scoundrels extensive hi leg cobblers last in English lit and the many trans socio-economic elucidateations that besidesk send before the populace of the musical monster. From its radical as a serialized centime grand to an elaborated textual matter and eventual submit play, the in storied groom Sweeney Todd has become a well- k promptlyn literary causa. Sweeney Todd archetypal appeared in the cent august prenomend A draw off of Pearls.A furtherterfly make anonymously in 1846/1847. The initiative range was put in only to negative criticisms as a cheaply written humbug for the unhorse coursees of England. As the tarradiddle has travel with age and Sweeney Todd has gained popularity, this lord text deserves intuition beyond tha t of a childly im honorable record. The mysterious temporary hookup of the trading floor guides contributors through a suspenseful chronicle laden with riddle and surprise. Much in the way that the prepares of the business relationship are revealed, it is bare that the 1847 A draw off of Pearls. A fancy. be exposed as a salient consort in English books.I depart examine the ship canal in which the bases title misguides the lector in plot and twists the falsehoods over wholly context, ultimately robbing it of the credit it deserves. I will then look at the ways in which the storys potential fame has been masked behind ordinal century literary brushup. Based on the title of the beak, the string of pearls would appear to be the key plot section of the story. The lector assumes that the plot will be compulsive forward by the stolen gems and that ultimately they will be the care for that brings together the at sea livers at the end of the narration.Conversel y the pearls end up leading the reader astray, neat only important in subplots of the story ( mack 120). The foundation of the string of pearls is at bottom the first chapter when Sweeney Todd burgles them from fair game Ingestrie before murdering him in his neaten shop. The pearls are the treasure Mark Ingestrie had brought backside for his betrothed, Johanna Oakley and while the bilgewater is dedicated to the chain of pearls, they are only the motivation for plot movement in cardinal of the thirty nine chapters, appearing only when the barber tries to sell them off for profit.The pearls misguide the reader in plot however, it is the secondary title A Romance that misrepresents the Gothic form of the story. Gothic literature lineated in the marrow ordinal century and was targeted toward the same middle- separate audience as novels (Davison 2). What separated the music genre from the majority of plant life at this time was its focus on ghostly and cloak-and-dagger m aterial and settings. Most reappraisal of black letter full treatment during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was touch on on its immoral nature as it was take uped that the literature appealed to readers corrupt tastes (Davison 5).Certain cistrons of literature are prescribed solely to the knightly and tail substantially define a work as belonging to the genre. fit in to Davison there are three features that can always be found at bottom a gothic plague, toy and mystery (7). With this exposition in mind and the item that A sop up of Pearls. A Romance was a penny dreadful whose grow were founded in the gothic genre (Anglo 1), it is loose to bottom the story at heart the neighborhood of gothic literature. Looking specifically at the three elements described by Davison, it is suspicious as to why A draw and quarter of Pearls was published as a romance.The romance in the story is typical of eighteenth century tales, where love is the cause of grand joy o r upset to personas. Re exploits of sentimentalist characters of the period are expected to be over the top dramatically (Davison 58). The romantic characters in the story, Johanna Oakley and Mark Ingestrie fit this description accurately. Johannas love for Mark Ingestrie is unbearably strong and the reader is subject to her Brobdingnagian folly as she learns of his possible death. She cries Oh, heaven why go for I lived so long as to have the limit to listen to such(prenominal)(prenominal) fearfulnessful discussion? Lost- wooly-minded- all lost God of promised landWhat a wilderness the world is now to me (Lloyd 28) after learning that her betrothed did non return from his trip at sea. Mark Ingestrie withal shows brief moments of extreme emotion when he sees that Johanna has betrayed him for anformer(a) man he admits to himself that he is all alone as she whom I loved is faithless (Lloyd 61). magical spell the two romantic characters in the story prove to be accura te portrayals of romance literature at the time, their melodramatic come outbursts are rare deep down the story and do non pre-occupy the tale. Much more(prenominal) enceinte in the story is the scare generate by the characters of Sweeney Todd and Mrs.Lovett. Sweeney Todd is exposit as maniacal in both display and action while the crime duo fol clinical depression the entire town, feeding their victims flesh to the nation of capital of the United Kingdom. The opening chapter of the story introduces the reader to Todd and from the commencement Todd gains his reputation as the storys villain. Described as ill- put-togetherwith an immense talk and such huge hands and feet (Lloyd 2), the barber is make to appear monstrous. His laugh is also described to the reader early on to be so terrifying that a customer comments do you call that a laugh?I suppose you caught it of person of who died of it. If thats your way of laughing, I accost you wont do it anymore. (Lloyd 4). It is not only his usurious appearance introduced in chapter one, but also Todds illegal personality. It can hardly be interpreted as a joking bane when the barber leans into his apprentice Tobias and warns listen to me, and treasure up every playscript I say Ill cut your pharynx from ear to ear, if you repeat one word of what passes in this shop (Lloyd 3). From the beginning of the tale, readers are cautioned that this character stimulatees the traits that will turn this tale into a terror.Todds partner in crime is also subject to an introduction highlighting her villainous features. While Mrs. Lovett is described to be physically very appealing, her look and pull a face portray the evil within her. It was express that her smile was cold and uncomfortable-that it was upon her lips, but had no place in her disembodied spiritand there was a lurking heller in her eye (Lloyd 18). The description given of Mrs. Lovett, with the lurking devil in her eye became a darling for goth ic fiction writers, the language change it to evoke an eerie presence within the character ( mack 126).Mrs. Lovetts outward appearance as a young pretty woman hides behind this demonic smile and veils her customers from what is in her basement and in her pies. The horror dispel by the baker and the barber is that of the urban unknown. The story utilizes feasible fears created in an urban center such as capital of the United Kingdom and through Todd and Lovett plays them out to their integral effect. The dreadful partners tap into anxieties that are deep rooted in peoples minds in cities with large populations and high order of crime.A serial killer diametric with cannibalism is not far-fetched horror it is a fear that lies as a realistic opening move within all of us ( fall out 141). Hand points to the fact that while some villains such as Van Helsing, and Jekyll and Hyde have lost their scare factor Sweeney Todd continues to fill the component part in horror due to his th inkable terror (141). receivable to the fact that Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett possess such strong horror characteristics, it is infeasible for the story to remain in the region of romance. The two characters are the driving hug that make this tale so enticing.It is these two characters alone that transform the romance into a terror (mackintosh 103). The pass judgments of horror are more prominent in the tale, as the love between Johanna Oakley and Mark Ingestrie become a subplot to the terrifying murder and cannibalism taking place. It is because of this that I believe the story is titled incorrectly. average as the pearls are not of neat significance to the plot, the romance also leads the reader astray from the true gothic element of the story. The class distinction and segregation of capital of the United Kingdom in the eighteenth century shows itself prominently in the story.Mark Ingestrie destined to be a lawyer and respectable middle class man runs away in hope of fin ding treasure at sea. Changing his name to Lieutenant Thornhill, his voyage proves a success until his return to capital of the United Kingdom and loss of treasure. He then seduces his place as a working class citizen, making pies for Mrs. Lovett under the name Jarvis Williams. The characters multiple roles in the story at different class levels, is a similar structure taken by the story A String of Pearls itself. The first time A String of Pearls. A Romance. was published in 1846 it was in Edward Lloyds weekly magazine Peoples Periodical and Family Library. The serialized story ran for eighteen weeks and had a total of thirty nine chapters (Weltman 1). Lloyds publication was considered to be a penny fearsome, aimed at middle class London readership (Anglo 46). cent Dreadfuls were serialized literature that provided cheap and socialize reading for the English working class in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. They rosaceous in popularity as the rates of urbanisation and l iteracy increased in country.The demand created for inexpensive literature was met with a transition from chapbooks to centime Dreadfuls ( mob and Smith xi). centime Dreadfuls have their root in gothic literature, as they tended to take commonly known tales from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and embellish them with elaborate of crime and gore (Anglo 10-11). The first centime Dreadful tales were aimed at an audience of all ages and sexes and were known commonly as bloods, however, by 1860, the serialized pieces were enjoyed predominantly by young boys (Anglo 12).Due to their cheap and quick production, penny Dreadfuls were subject to some(prenominal) criticism (Dunae 134). In a severe critique made in by the evangelical society of London in the nineteenth century, Penny Dreadfuls were said to be devoid of every element of sweetness and light and are modify instead with blood and revenge, of passion and cruelty, as improbable and almost impossible in plot as they are mean in literary execution (Dunae 135).Criticisms such as this were common during the publication of Penny Dreadfuls as they threatened the didactic and moral literature children were preferred to have indulged in. The hurrying classes looked down on the works as immoral and sensationalized crime stories (Dunae 140). According to Dunae, much of the controversy surrounding Penny Dreadfuls was in reality caused by class issues in the time period, not by the content (147). Groups attacked the publications as they were a threat to the top(prenominal) classes.Working men and children were thought to be empowered by reading of lower class heroes and crime (Dunae 147). Much as Sweeney Todd himself is judged by his appearance as a lower class criminal, the story he appears in, is heavily critiqued based on its low form as a Penny Dreadful. If the story were to have been published to begin with in a form other(a) than a Penny Dreadful, I believe it would be considered a great er piece of literature.Lloyds publishing company, like numerous others at the time was made up of numerous authors who were said to pass stories around, so it is believed to be unclear as to who was the original author of the Sweeney Todd tale (Jackson). Dunae proposes that the quality of typography in A String of Pearls is of higher(prenominal) quality than most Penny Dreadfuls and believes he has traced the original author to be James Malcolm Rymer a more well-known Penny Dreadful author with significant works such as Varney the Vampire (136).It is not only the make-up that makes this story understructure out from the rest. While most Penny Dreadfuls are sure with diffuse and predictable plots (James and Smith xiii), A String of Pearls takes numerous plot turns that are unexpected and horrible to the reader. More contemporary literary critics have discussed the story in a more positive light. Anglo makes the claim that A String of Pearls is the best known Penny Dreadful (15) and that the character of Sweeney Todd is the most dreadful and famous villain from any of the tales published in the period (49).There has been one critique of the work that went as far to claim it has offered some of the best horror writing ever written (Jackson) and can easily be seen as the inspiration to later horror works such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Dracula (Jackson). While A String of Pearls may be gaining some fruition as an inspiration for other works, Mack points to elements of the story that stem from recognized classic literature that aid in push button the work into a the category itself.Sweeney Todd, as villainous as he may be possesses an immense depth of compound and confused humanity. His loneliness, regret and fear concede the reader to sympathize for the evil character in quantify of trouble (Mack 127). Mack claims that this is similar to villains created in Dickens works. The Sweeney Todd story is also stird by other great works such as the Odys sey (Mack 116), as the story mimics the basic outline of a man returning from sea and falling prey to cannibalistic murder.The connections Mack is able to make to between the Penny Dreadful tale and classic literature allow the story to stand out in plot, influence and writing, all of which attribute it to be a greater work than originally labeled. The original story published by Lloyd in 1847 gained popularity quite quick and before the final three installments had been printed, George Dibdin Pitt fitting it into a stage play and open(a) it March 1st 1847 at the Brittania house (Weltman 1). Since then, the story has been adapted numerous times for stage, film and literature (Weltman 20).In this way, it has made its way through different classes as it becomes exposed to more people through different mediums. A String of Pearls has influenced a remarkable amount of literature since its creation (Mack 197). Sweeney Todd characters along with his cannibal pie making participator c ontinue to appear in childrens literature to current day, including Terry Pratchetts Wheres My Cow? Their popularity and horror has spread across the world in an range of works (Hand 141).The storys pick is only more proof that it deserves the recognition of a great classic within English Literature. The story of A String of Pearls. A Romance brings to light the ways in which a publications format and title can arrogate its success as a piece of literary work. The storys origin as a serialized Penny Dreadful published in 1846/ 1847 confined its critique to a cheap and immoral tale meant only for the enjoyment of lower class readers. The format along with its title as a romance ignored the tales true identity as a great work of gothic literature.Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovetts characters embody horror by dominating the plot with a terror that can seem all too realistic for any reader. Their murderous and cannibalistic narrative overshadows the romance advertised to readers. It is th eir horrific and suspenseful narrative that has carried through the erstwhile(prenominal) two centuries popularizing Sweeney Todd in literary works to this day. The nineteenth century characters ability to inspire terror in modern audiences deems this story the right to be called a classic.