Sweeny Todd Essay Example

Sweeney Todd is a street barber who has been in exile in London for 15years. He comes back and wants to take revenge on a judge who was corrupt for falsely accusing him and ruining his entire life. Sweeney’s plan to revenge comes after Mrs. Lovett tells him how his wife swallowed poison after being raped and that Judge Turnip was holding Johanna, his daughter, captive. Todd swears revenge, on the whole, human race. He does this by joining forces with his neighbor Mrs. Lovett, he kills his customers and gives them to Mrs. Lovett, who bakes them as meat pies. They sell the meat pies to the customers who seem not to be sensing anything.
Todd kills his customers by pulling a pedal when they sit on the chair. The victim then falls backward and down to a trapdoor that is revolving then into the underground of his shop. This causes their necks and skulls to break. If the victim does not die, he goes there and slits out their throat with a razor. Sometimes, he slits out their throats before throwing them to the basement of his shop.
After this, Todd robs his dead victims their goods and then disposes off their bodies with the help of his partner Mrs. Lovett. Mrs. Lovett uses these bodies to bake meat pies and sell them in her shop. Todd and Mrs. Lovett hire an innocent boy who is an orphan, Tobias Ragg to supply the pies to the customers. A sharp factory whistle is frequently heard, and it mostly happens when Todd is about to kill his customers.
We see Sondheim's irony when in a flashback Lucy is being raped and the people watching are laughing uncontrollably. Then a scene similar to a predictable love song occurs, the strangely unnatural “My Friends,” which Sweeney sings to his razors. Even as Sweeney expresses his love to his silver, his friend Mrs. Lovett pours out her heart to him. She makes romantic advances and begs for his attention. Todd only focuses on the mission at hand and cries out

“At last! My arm is complete again!”

Then the London citizens state publically
“Lift your razor high, Sweeney!”
This signifies the fulfilled curve of Sweeney’s arm that has been realized after a long imprisonment. Sweeney is now free to endorse his revenge against the ill-famed Judge Turnip. Todd makes vigilant, deliberate, emotionless plans to assassinate Judge Turnip. Later on, we see Todd’s daughter Johanna at the window of the tower where she is locked. She then sings “Green Finch and Linnet Bird.” This song represents her captivity as she ponders

“How is it you sing? How can you jubilate, sitting in cages, never taking wing?"

As Anthony wanders and spies on Johanna, he is extremely attracted to her. The beggar woman tells him everything about Johanna and the judge but Anthony ignores her, and he is determined to get Johanna. Johanna and Anthony characterize innocence in detention. Johanna is an unfortunate casualty of her mother’s sins and also the forbidden desires of Judge Turnip, whereas Anthony is to turn into an unaware forfeit of Todd’s plan to destroy Turnip and take his revenge.
When Todd sees the judge in his shop, he gets a chance to endorse his revenge. Regrettably, Sweeney takes a long time to act, and suddenly Anthony appears and informs him of his wedding plans. Out of anger judge Turnip storms out. Sweeney becomes furious because Anthony has spoiled his plan and ordered him out. Mrs. Lovett comes in and tries to calm Todd, but he cannot listen to anything. Sweeney then sings a song "Epiphany," which explains his unexpressed disappointment against himself and judge Turnip. He spills all these upon every mankind.

There's a hole in the world

Like a great black pit
and it's filled with people who are filled with shit
and the vermin of the world inhabit it

But not for long!

They all deserve to die!
Tell you why, Mrs. Lovett, tell you why
Because in all of the whole human race, Mrs. Lovett,
There are two kinds of men and only two
There's one staying put in his proper place
And there's one with his foot in the other one's face
Look at me, Mrs. Lovett, look at you
Todd sings his shady story of life, and he swears to kill randomly until he fulfills his revenge on Judge Turnip. He declares "I'm alive at last, and I'm full of joy!" This is ironical because looking at the other side of his life; he is miserable and spiritually dead. He has virtually been defeated by the ignorant Anthony, who bursts in with a love message innocently and has lead Todd into singing a song about hatred and vengeance.
In conclusion, sometimes most of the music appears to be exaggerated. However, this shows Sondheim’s practice of irony. This set piece makes the audience dominant and dwarfs the actors. The irony part in the song gives it the sense of humor and at the same time brings out the characteristics of some of the characters in the song. The ironical nature of singing gives the listeners a longing to hear the song severally.