Approach of the Study Method of the Study

Her honest explanation about Todd and his family is clearly explained in a song Poor Thing. In this song, Mrs. Lovett tells what happens to the family of Benjamin Barker chronologically. Lovett tells that at that time there is a barber named Barker. He is a beautiful barber. He lives with his wife and a year-old kid. Unfortunately, because of his foolishness, he is moved to a place far from his family by Judge Turpin and his Beadle who are rich and respectable persons in the city. Furthermore, Lovett tells that Judge Turpin really fond of Barker’s wife and wants to have her because of her beauty. Lovett describes Barker ’s wife, Lucy, as a fool by using the word ‘poor thing’ because she wastes the opportunity to live together with Judge Turpin and still believes in him after knowing that her husband is moved to a strange place by him. Lovett adds, Lucy ’s belief is proven by her participation in a ball where there is no one she knows. She is invited by the Beadle to meet Judge Turpin there and in shame, an incident happening to her. At the party, she is raped by Judge Turpin with no single person helps her. Moreover, from the quotation above Todd believes to Mrs. Lovett because the event is similar with what has happened to him. I t can be seen from Todd’s statement to Antony, a man who helps him from the ocean after his escape from prison in The Barber and His Wife song. However, human mind is easily damaged and it can be broken with very easy techniques. In the play, Mrs. Lovett proves to be very experienced in manipulation. Throughout the play, Lovett is able with her words to control almost every character she speaks to. She manipulates Todd by omitting the true information about Lucy although the truth appears when it is too late. She does not tell the full information shortly after she realizes that Todd is Barker. TODD. [A wild shout] Would no one have mercy on her? [The dumb show vanishes. TODD and MRS. LOVETT gaze at each other] MRS. LOVETT. [Coolly] So it is you – Benjamin Barker. TODD. [Frighteningly vehement] Not Barker Not Barker Todd now Sweeney Todd Where is she? MRS. LOVETT. So changed Good God, what did they do to you down there in bloody Australia or wherever? TODD. Where is my wife? Where’s Lucy? MRS. LOVETT. She poisoned herself. Arsenic from the apothecary on the corner. I tried to stop her but she wouldn’t listen to me. TODD. And my daughter? MRS. LOVETT. Johanna? He’s got her. TODD. He? Judge Turpin? MRS. LOVETT. Even he had a conscience tucked away, I suppose. Adopted her like his own. You could say it was good luck for her . . . almost. Wheeler, 1979:18-19 It happens after she sings Poor Thing song. The conversation above proves that Lovett does not give a straight answer to a straight question from Todd. In this case, she decides not to tell Todd about Lucy. She wants Todd. She wants to win Todd ’s heart. The second evidence is when Mrs. Lovett hides the identity of Sweeney Todd from the Beadle. The incident occurs just after Sweeney Todd successfully beat Pirelli, a famous Italian barber, for the second time in the razor contest in the Dunstans Marketplace. BEADLE. Mr. Todd . . . Strange, sir, but it seems your face is known to me. MRS. LOVETT. [Concealing agitation ] Him? That’s a laugh – him being my uncle’s cousin and arrived from Birmingham yesterday. TODD. [Very smooth] But already, sir, I have heard Beadle Bamford spoken of with great respect. BEADLE. [Whatever dim suspicions he may have had allayed by the flattery] Well, sir, I try my best for my neighbors. [To MRS. LOVETT ] Fleet Street? Over your pieshop, ma’am? MRS. LOVETT. That’s it, sir. Wheeler, 1979:53-54 Lovett hides the identity of Todd. She does not want anyone knows Todd’s new identity especially the beadle and the judge. The dishonesty done by Lovett is an attempt to protect Todd since she knows Todd wants to avenge the beadle then she does keep for not telling others about the secret. Although in the beginning of Beadle’s speech the figure of Todd is seemed familiar for him, Beadle who has a duty as a judge in the contest, eventually believes in what is said by Mrs. Lovett and promises to Todd and Lovett to come to the barbershop before the week is out. Lovett often does something unfairly or dishonestly in order to get what she wants. In the song A Little Priest in which it is the third evidence, Lovett expresses her manipulative way by persuades Todd to accept her plan. It is happened in the end of act 1. MRS. LOVETT. [Pause. Chord] You know me. Sometimes ideas just pop into me head and I keep thinking . . . [Sings] Seems a downright shame . . . TODD. Shame? MRS. LOVETT. Seems an awful waste . . . Such a nice plump frame Wot’s – his – name Has . . . Had . . . Has . . . Nor it can’t be traced. Business needs a lift – Debts to be erased – Think of it as thrift, As a gift . . . If you get my drift . . . [TODD stares into space] No? [She sighs] Seems an awful waste.