Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

1. Define: Personification.

Dictionary.com defines personification as the attribution of human characteristics to things or abstract ideas.

2. Briefly explain how personification is used throughout the story. Include as part of your explanation the importance of the objects being personified. Another way to word that might be: how does the personification of said objects advance the story/plot?

Personification is used for Sweeney's blades the most. He refers to them as "his friends" and that they will do great things together. He treats them as if they are alive and can feel the pain that he does and that they need to seek the revenge as much as himself. The personification of the blades advances the plot by letting us know what their purpose will be. They will seek drops of rubies and complete Todd's revenge for him.

3. What to you is the major theme of Sweeney Todd? Explain why you feel that theme makes a difference to the story as a whole.

Vengeance is the main theme for Sweeney Todd. Benajmin Barker was imprisoned for a crime he never committed forcing him to leave his wife and daughter to Judge Turpin. He only wishes to take everything away from Judge Turpin as The Judge had done to him.

4. In your own words, describe each of the major characters—you should have at least You are welcome to use mostly adjectives, but be sure that whatever words/phrases you use that you are very clear and specific.

Benjamin Barker - Sweeney Todd - His life was ruined when he was falsely accused of crimes that forced him to be imprisoned for fifteen years away from his wife, Lucy, and daughter, Johanna. He seeks revenge against The Judge whom made it all happen. He is blinded by his blood-lust and inexplicable appetite for revenge. Murdering Judge Turpin is his greatest desire.

The Beadle - Beadle Bamford - Judge Turpin's greatest accomplice. His soul purpose in the play is to do the will of Judge Turpin. He's his faithful assistant so to speak. He is mean and vindictive, hateful even.

The Judge - Judge Turpin - The Judge is powerful and he knows it. People respect him, but only because they don't know how vindictive he really is. He saw a beautiful woman and he wanted her for his own and didn't care what he had to do to get that. Even after her husband's imprisonment and the fact that the woman wanted nothing to do with The Judge he took her daughter as his ward just so he could keep her.

Mrs. Lovett - Mrs. Lovett is desperate and lonely. She's always had a thing for Sweeney Todd and lies to him to try and get her way. She is a rather dirty person and despite her efforts, not much of a cook either. She becomes Todd's accomplice in disposing of the bodies and even sacrifices some of her happiness with Toby to accommodate Todd's efforts at revenge. She is a dreamer and dreams that Todd will love her one day after his revenge is completed.

Toby - Tobias Ragg - Toby is detrimental to the story. He starts out as Adolfo Pirelli's slave-boy. Taking beatings from his master and doing all of his bidding until his master decides to take a trip to see Todd where Todd murders him. He is taken in by Mrs. Lovett who treats him far better than Pirelli ever did and he grows affectionate towards her but more and more suspicious of Todd as the time goes by. In the end, it is Toby who ends Sweeney Todd's murderous rampage slitting his throat after witnessing Todd throwing Mrs. Lovett into the bake oven.

The Old Woman - Lucy Barker - She was married to Benjamin Barker and mother to Johanna before Judge Turpin set his eyes upon her. She wound up taking poison and it greatly diminished her mental capacity until she was just some old beggar woman on the street. She suspected the evil things that were going on inside the pie shop and tried to warn others about it. The only one who knew who she really was was Mrs. Lovett. When she was brave enough to investigate the barber shop, she was murdered unknowingly by her husband that she had lost so many years ago.

Johanna Barker - The daughter of Benjamin and Lucy Barker. She never knew either of them She only knew of Judge Turpin who had imprisoned her many years ago and wanted her for his wife. She was disgusted by this and grew sadder and continued to refuse him. She felt hope when she saw Anthony and tried her best to help him save her.

Anthony Hope - He was a sailor with whom encountered Todd on his way back to London. He talked about his hopes and dreams while Todd told him how vile and dirty London was. He still thought of Todd as a friend though. On his way through the streets of London he was completely taken by the vision of Johanna in the window and immediately fell in love with her. He took a beating for staring at her, but vowed to steal her and save her from her horrible prison anyway. He claims he can feel her presence even if he couldn't see her, which to me is some deep kind of love. He does save her in the end and their future is unknown after that.

Adolfo Pirelli - He was a fraud of a businessman claiming his elixirs could do things they really couldn't. He lost a bet to Barker only to come by Todd's place later to try to blackmail him. He had remembered who he really was and was the first victim Todd murdered so he would stay silent. He was a sly and mean man who deserved what he got.

5. The names of the individual characters play a major role in the story, especially for Sweeney Todd and the Beadle. Do a little research and explain, especially for these 2 characters, the importance/significance of their names, especially in regards to the story itself.

Benjamin Barker - Sweeney Todd - Sweeney means small hero. Todd means fox. I've not really been able to find any real meaning to his name, so I am just gonna go by what I think... Sweeney is more of a last name. It seems his name should be reversed to Todd Sweeney. I believe the meaning in this is because Todd is so set forth in his revenge that he doesn't even see himself as a person anymore, so why should he have a real name.

The Beadle - Beadle Bamford - Dictionary.com defines a beadle as a parish officer having various subordinate duties, as keeping order during services. This is what he actually does too. He follows The Judge around doing everything that Turpin asks of him without questions. He may also be referred to as a beetle which is the most populated species of bugs there is, even still today symbolizing how common a man like that is.

Anthony Hope - He is bright and cheery and expects the world to be great. He gives great hope to Johanna that he will save her.

6. Sweeney Todd is called a dark comedy. Define: dark comedy—in your own words.

A dark comedy to me is when everything is funny but that it's so ironic under the horrible circumstances of the story.

7. Name and briefly explain at least 3 examples of how Sweeney Todd is a dark comedy. The more specific you are, the better your grade will be.

When Todd is at the market challenging Pirelli and he sings about his elixir being piss. Todd is insulting him, but you can't help but to laugh they was they did the whole scene. It's hilarious!

The scene where Mrs. Lovett is imagining a future for herself, Todd, and Toby. The future she imagines is by far from perfect. She is so utterly happy throughout it, but Todd has the same glum, meaningless expression upon his face, like yeah, whatever.

When Pirelli is upstairs trying to blackmail Todd because he knows who he really is. Mrs. Lovett is downstairs with Toby gibing him gin and meat pies o distract him. Toby's affection towards gin is hilarious. He passes out from so much when in reality he shouldn't even have any gin to begin with!

When Todd is about to slit Judge Turpin's throat. They are singing together while The Judge has his eyes closed, Todd's face grows more and more in depth as he's imagining they way to complete his task. It's very dramatic and suspenseful but full of humor too.

8. Define: irony.

Dictionary.com defines irony as the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.

9. Discuss at least 3 examples of irony in the play. Again, the more specific you are, the better your grade will be.

Irony is woven throughout this entire play.It was irony that caused Anthony to find Johanna and fall in love with her and then to ask her own father, Sweeney Todd, for help to steal her from the man he's seeking revenge upon. Of course he agreed after he learned who she actually was.

It was irony that caused the dramatic ending of Todd slitting the throat of his beloved Lucy only to later realize that she was the wife he had lost. He was so caught up in revenge that he didn't give her a second thought when she thought she knew him. If he had than the story might have gone differently.

It was also ironic that the boy, Toby, whom he reluctantly didn't murder because of Mrs. Lovett's affection towards him was the one to slit Todd's throat while he was holding his dead Lucy in his arms. Todd didn't even stop to think about fighting back. He just rose his head up so that Toby could murder him, more than likely out of shame of what he had done.

At the very beginning when Anthony and Todd are singing together. Anthony is all about how great London is while Todd sings about how horrible it is. It was ironic that Anthony didn't comprehend anything Todd was singing about or he did but just refused to hear it.

10. Consider carefully the direction of the movie. By that, I mean how Tim Burton directed it—what he did with lighting, colors, the actors themselves, etc. Take at least 3 different direction techniques and discuss/explain how they add to or take away from the overall story itself.

Tim Burton did a wonderful job in my opinion adding drama with the way he directed this movie. He used dark colors and lighting emphasized by the bright red blood to add intensity and meaning throughout. Not much of the story is bright and cheery except for the parts where Todd is remembering his past or when Mrs. Lovett is imagining the future. I believe the way that he brightened all the blood in this movie represents Todd's feelings as it is heavily shed, so dramatic like he is with his search for vengeance.

11. What is your favorite part of Sweeney Todd? Why is that part your favorite?

My favorite part is when Todd comes home for the first time to Mrs. Lovett's shop. I love the song she sings while making her pies and forcing him to try one of the worst pies in London. It's so very comical!

12. What didn’t you like about Sweeney Todd? Why didn’t you like that part?

The ending of course. When Todd slits the throat of his wife, Lucy, unknowingly and almost Johanna too in his quest to seek revenge against the great Judge Turpin. He ended up murdering the only woman he ever loved and now he'll never know his daughter which was the whole point of his revenge in the first place.

13. Even though you may not have actually seen a play like Sweeney Todd performed on stage, do you think you’d prefer the movie or the stage version? Explain your answer.

I would love to see it on stage, although I'm sure it wouldn't be as dramatic as Tim Burton made it with all the brightly colored blood, I think it would be an amazing experience.

14. What didn’t I ask about Sweeney Todd that you would like to talk about? (You MUST put something here…..I’m SURE I missed something that caught your attention that I didn’t ask about!!!!)

I would love to know more about what happened to Anthony and Johanna! Did they get away safely? Fall in love and live happily ever after? I would like to think so, especially for Johanna, whose family was torn apart at the seems by her evil keeper! What happened to Toby? I guess he would have been deemed the hero of the story since he was the one to end Todd, although Todd should be deemed a hero for ending The Beadle and The Judge. They both deserved their deaths.