"I'll Polish Him Off" - The Social Significance of the Different Representations of Sweeney Todd in the Original Victorian Periodical, The String of Pearls: A Romance

Abstract

This thesis intends to touch upon the timeless significance of Sweeney Todd, the notorious fictional serial killer, and his tale in pointing out that everyone is a sinner and secretly a monster material, or, in other words, that man is the cruellest animal. In order to prove my points, I analysed the narrative's different representaions of the barber, firstly as a distanced, demonised version of evil people, and later as a deformed, greedy businessman.