Was Sweeney Todd Real?

Question

My wife and I were talking about the new Tim Burton film, Sweeney Todd, that's coming out soon and we got into a discussion about whether or not it was based on fact. She had always believed it was based on a true story and was surprised that I was more skeptical. I'm a college literature professor and have encountered many different early versions of the 'myth' throughout my career. It is different from many other horror films in that the legend does date back to the 1800's. As far as I know, Sweeney Todd was originally a minor character in a short story published by Thomas Prest. Because that was a fictional piece, I've always held the notion that Sweeney Todd himself was a fictional character. I know that that story led to multiple spin offs and stories that revolved around his character (such as the upcoming movie) and I do believe these definitely do not represent an accurate depiction of Sweeney Todd. If he did exist, I believe that he was nothing like the character depicted in the stories and plays. I won't rule out his existence entirely because I do know the original author, Thomas Prest, got many of his character ideas by hunting through newspapers, but I speculate that it is much more likely that Sweeney Todd (most likely with a different name) came from a clipping. He may have taken a murder that occurred in a barber shop and seen an opportunity to embellish the character and make a story. I highly doubt the references to the meat pies are even remotely factual. My wife still disagrees and insists that more elements of the story are true and from what I've encountered in my courses, most of my students feel the same way. I'm open to any input. Does anyone have any opinions on the matter?

Answer 1

There may have been a person who did this, but more than likely is just a combination of ideas to reach this end.

He may be more of an urban legend with the real story muddled.

there may have been a barber who slit the throat of a customer over a real problem (the potential origin of the story) and, as rumors do, grew wings and flew out of control

Answer 2

As far as I know, the character himself is fictional. However, there have been many people in the past who have comitted gruesome acts similar to those described in the play , so ideas for the character may very well have stemmed from that. But, whether he's fictional or not, I'm going to see the movie when it comes out. I saw the play not to long ago, and it was amazing, so I'm betting the movie will be pretty good too.

Answer 3

I've lived 51 years, all over the world. Truth is often stranger than fiction.

Who would think that someone as gruesome as Jeffrey Dahmer actually existed?

Depravity was quite common in nineteenth century London anyway--look at the 'Jack the Ripper' tale and even some of the Dickens stories.

Answer 4

Fictional
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Todd

Answer 5

Lots of theories. I think the original penny dreadful was loosely inspired by the Scottish murderer/cannibal Sawney Beane. You'll notice the similar cadence of the names?

No way to prove it, but that's my theory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawney_Beane

Answer 6

Great, it has Johnny Depp in it!

http://www.sweeneytoddmovie.com/

Character was totally fictional.

Answer 7

I think it's purely fictional. But it's going to be awesome! Theres a thread about it on horror.com :

http://www.horror.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32349

Answer 8

http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/20090.html


http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/todd/index_1.html