Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Wheeler and Sondheim build tension between wrath and tenderness throughout the play, sprinkling moments of kindness, hope, and community amid the cruel, violent, and furious actions that populate the bulk of the play. The moments of tenderness suggest that the characters don’t have to live in the cruel world that Todd envisions. Part of the play’s tragedy is that the major characters fail to realize a better world by the end of the narrative, using each other’s softer, gentler instincts against each other.

Todd shows tenderness to no one but his razors, whom he affectionately refers to as his “friends,” suggesting that he thinks of his razors as partners in fulfilling his greatest desires and illustrating his isolation from the rest of humanity. He only trusts the instruments of his work. This changes once he finds an ally in Mrs. Lovett, who accepts his bloodlust once she sees the business opportunity it presents. Mrs. Lovett’s offer to help Todd dispose of his customers’ bodies by using them for her meat pies charms Todd so much that he refers to her affectionately as “my love” and “my sweet.” This suggests that Todd is still able to trust other people, though that trust is ultimately misplaced, given Mrs. Lovett’s deception.

Todd’s routine of murder and prosperity allows him to relax his obsession with Turpin and begin to imagine a reunion with Johanna. Todd is wistful over the likelihood that Johanna will choose to escape with Anthony over a relationship with him. A subtle key moment in Act II features Todd choosing to spare the life of a customer who comes in accompanied by his wife and young child. Todd’s mercy is a sign that, more than seeking revenge, he longs to return to the kind of life that this customer has. To kill him, the narrative suggests, would make Todd no different from Turpin, destroying a family just because he can. However, Todd ultimately leverages Anthony’s tenderness toward Johanna and trust in Todd to fulfill his revenge against Turpin, though it risks Johanna’s continued institutionalization. This suggests that what remains of Barker is gone, leaving Todd free to pursue his vengeance. 

Tobias, who previously worked for the abusive Perelli, shares a tender dynamic with Mrs. Lovett, whom he sees as a mother figure, though she is his employer. Because Mrs. Lovett shows Tobias kindness, he declares that he will protect her from harm. The tenderness between the two characters underscores the scarcity of tenderness during this time period, when exploitation was a social norm. After Todd kills Mrs. Lovett, Tobias’s tender feelings toward her, despite everything, fill him with wrath that drives him to kill Todd, suggesting that wrath is the dark side of tenderness.