The Legend of Sweeney Todd
The Demon Barber: Fact or Fiction?
The story of the demon barber of Fleet Street has been circulating for over a hundred and sixty years. The first documented tale was in a ‘Penny Dreadful’ in which the story was said to be based upon fact. ‘Penny Dreadfuls’ were British serial literary publications, on the whole aimed at working classes in the Victorian era. It contained stories which were often dark, and vicarious in nature.
The legitimacy of an actual serial killer called Sweeney Todd has been widely refuted by most historians and scholars.
The String of Pearls
The original story was called The String of Pearls and was published in eighteen installments. In this version of the tale Sweeney Todd’s motive is robbery. The barber murders his wealthy customers, by the use of a revolving chair (that still figures greatly in modern interpretations of the story) which sends the victim falling down a trap door; they are killed by the fall breaking their neck, or the impact upon the head.
In the original, it is only after this that Sweeney is said to slit their throats with his razor. This process has been reversed in many adaptations, especially the more famous incarnations of Todd.
After the patron’s money and valuables have been taken, Mrs Lovett, Todd’s partner in crime, disposes of the bodies by using them as a meat filling for her pies. At the end of the story, Sweeny Todd poisons Mrs Lovett and is convicted of murder and executed for his crimes.
The Popularity of the Legend
The tale of Sweeny Todd really caught the British public’s imagination, and Sweeney Todd became the ‘bogey-man’ of his day. In fact, children were told that if they did not behave Sweeney would come and get them in the middle of the night.
Other Possible Origins
There is a theory that the story goes back further than The String of Pearls, however, and that it is possibly based on an older urban legend. There is evidence to support this in Charles Dickens’ Martin Chuzzlewit, which was published two years before The String of Pearls. The character of Tom Pinch, in Martin Chuzzlewit, speaks of the “…preparers of cannibalistic pastry, who are represented in many country legends…”
Certainly, the notion of cannibalism and more specifically unbeknownst cannibalism is espoused in many fairy tales.
Another story called The Tell Tale, which was published in 1824, also bears a striking resemblance to the legend of Sweeney Todd. The Tell Tale tells of the story of a barber and wig-maker in Paris, who murdered his patrons, robbed them, and then had their bodies made into pies.
So, it appears that the story of Sweeney Todd, which the public is now familiar with, has been adapted from many stories before it. It also seems that the legend of Sweeney Todd has no basis in historical accuracy. There are certainly no records of someone by that name living in London, and if there had been a murderer in Fleet Street then he evaded capture. It appears that Sweeney Todd is nothing more than a legend, but he is a very captivating one, nonetheless.
Meat Pie
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