Sweeney Todd's London Atlas
"There's no place like London," declares a well-traveled young sailor in Stephen Sondheim's 1979 masterpiece Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street: A Musical Thriller. The folklorist and literary critic Robert S. Mack finds that Londoners in particular "have always had a soft spot for Sweeney Todd," because the myth engages unique aspects of their city (Mack 71-4). But what sort of a "place" is this "London," in Sondheim's script and in other versions of the myth?
This book will suggest some answers to that question by charting Sweeney Todd's world as represented in one of its earliest sources, the novel The String of Pearls, or the Barber of Fleet Street: A Domestic Romance (London: Edward Lloyd, 1850). The geography of this story is incredibly specific: unlike Frankenstein's Creature, for example, its monster has a numbered street address, and a reader could literally follow in his footsteps all round the Temple Bar neighborhood. You can too: in our maps representing the area during the time of the story's action (the 1780s); the era of its composition (the 1840s), and beyond.
In perusing these multiple metropolitan worlds, we might consider how The String of Pearls and the Todd legend mix and layer different conceptions of London: the literal and allegorical thoroughfares; real and fantastic landmarks; and historical geographies of the 1780s, 1840s, and beyond, all of which combine to create a dynamic and uncanny city.
To consult the Atlas
Below, click "begin this path," or choose a map on the "path."
Then, click on "detail" to open the map, then "description" or "annotations" as desired
Then, click on "detail" to open the map, then "description" or "annotations" as desired
Navigate between the maps using the "next on path" buttons.
Bon voyage...
Bon voyage...
PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS.
COMMENTS 10/18:
The 1767 map looks good.
There are lots of great annotations of landmarks in "1775" and "1844," but are you sure those are the maps you downloaded from MapCo? Both show "Waterloo Bridge." The battle of Waterloo took place in 1815. When was the bridge built?
In any case, the LANDMARKS found for all three maps and the information you looked up about them -- from Smithfield Market, to the "livestock streets," the lawyers' haunts and the clock, do provide useful contextualization for the story. Great job, everyone!
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