Romance In Blood: Toby/Lovett (Sweeney Todd)
Title: Romance In Blood: Toby/Lovett (Sweeney
Author: dangerousdame
Fandom: Sweeney Todd
Pairing: Toby/Lovett
Spoilers: Major spoilers
Author's Note: This essay refers to the stage version of Sweeney Todd (especially the Revival and Concert stagings.)
I. The Cast
"Seems like the good lord sent you for me..."
Tobias Ragg
A handsome teenager, Toby is a boy sweet of heart and slow of mind. One of the outcasts of Victorian society, any information about his family is unknown, though it is probable he has never known any true parental care. Loyal and protective to the few who show him kindness, there is a hidden dark side to his innocent nature, with distrbing hints of violence slipping through when he thinks his love is in danger. Before meeting Mrs. Lovett, he worked as a servant for a cruel con artist calling himself Pirelli, suffering physical abuse at the least (with sexual abuse hinted at in some productions.)
Mrs. Nellie Lovett
Mrs. Lovett is a widowed pie-maker, impoverished at the start of the play. She takes a strange kind of pride in the poor quality of her wares, freely telling the odd customer that her pies are the worst in London. Though she has spent much of her life pining for a married man, her own marriage appears to have been pleasent enough, and her flirtatious manner towards most of the male characters (along with her cynically pragmatic worldview) paint her as a femme fatale. Generous and motherly but ultimately selfish, there is a hint of the sociopath about her, though she would not admit to any of her actions to be evil.
II. The Tragic Occurance at Fleet Street
"Oh, look at it now! Doesn't look like it's had a kind word since half past never!"
Mrs. Lovett first met Toby when he was hawking his masters' wares, displaying an impressive ability as a showman despite a transparantly phony product. Mrs. Lovett and her partner (in more ways than one), a man calling himself Sweeney Todd, interrupted Toby's performance to reveal the 'miracle elixer' as the fraud it was, ultimately humiliating Pirelli (and Toby by extention.)
Despite this rather upleasent meeting, the two soon took a liking to each other. Pirelli (with Toby in tow) visited the house where Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd lived, having recognized Todd as an escaped convict and planning blackmail. Horrified by the meager condition Toby was in, Mrs. Lovett took him downstairs to give him a bit to eat and drink, which he was extremely grateful for- in fact, he was one of the only people not to find her pies horrible (although it could have been that he was being starved, and would have considered anything wonderful.)
The first sign of feelings between the two came when Mrs. Lovett convinced Todd (who had killed Pirelli) to spare Toby, taking him on as a worker herself. She was a much better employer than Pirelli had been, and Toby put his old talents as a hawker to use for her. Business soon picked up, but this was not due to her new employee, but to a rather...unusual new form of meat that greatly improved her pies.
Although lovers with Todd, Mrs. Lovett grew fond of her boy, knitting him scarves and chatting with him frequently. For his part, Toby considered her to be an angel, and swore he would do anything for her and that he would protect her against anyone and anything. He couldn't quite get over his suspicions about Todd, though, nor his fears that the man would hurt Mrs. Lovett. Though she tried to calm him, he believed her to have been blinded by her love for the man, and the sight of his vanished former masters' purse confirmed his suspicions.
Still maintaining the whole thing to be foolish, Mrs. Lovett tried to placate him by allowing him to make pies, something he'd always wanted to do. Once locked in the bakehouse, however, Toby discovered the horrible truth: the wonderful meat Mrs. Lovett filled her pies with was human flesh from Todd's victims.
Mrs. Lovett quickly informed Todd that Toby had guessed about Pirelli's death, but he hid himself in the sewers when they tried to hunt him down, even refusing to come out when she promised nothing bad would happen. The murderous pair soon had their hands full with other matters, temporarily forgetting about the stray boy.
As events of the night took their course and the bodies piled up, Mrs. Lovett herself soon became one of them. Todd discovered she had hidden the existance of his supposed-dead wife from him, and murdered her in a fit of rage.
At this point, Toby re-entered, but as a rather different figure than before. Whether he had witnessed Mrs. Lovett's killing (and whether he'd ever realized she was aware of and complicit in Todd's actions) was unclear, but his experiences had left him crazed. Picking up Todd's abandoned razor, he told him he shouldn't have harmed anyone, began to chant nursery rhymes, and cut Todd's throat. As a group of horrified witnesses gathered in the room, Toby continued to put meat through the grinder, babbling about how his mistress didn't allow anyone to come in. And so the play ends, with one killer dead and another one created.
III. What Kind of Love?
"Just me warm heart, dear. Room enough in there for all god's creatures."
The relationship between Toby and Mrs. Lovett can be read as that of a mother and child or one of romantic/sexual love (or even a combination of both.) I tend to think the latter- whether or not anything happened (or could have happened) between them, Toby's love for his protector seems to me more that that of a son.
Throughout their time together, Toby is clearly besotted with Mrs. Lovett. He talks to her in a tone of worship, and constantly tries to get her apart from Todd- out of concern, of course, but also possibly jealousy:
Toby: If there were a monster or an ogre or anything bad like what was after you, I'd rip it apart. WIth my bare fists, I would!
Mrs. Lovett: What a sweet child it is.
Toby: Or even if it was just a man...
Mrs. Lovett: A man?
Toby: A man what was bad- what might be luring you, all unbeknownst into his evil deeds like!
And later on, he says what he means...
Toby: It's Mr. Todd- oh, I know you fancy him, but men ain't like women! They ain't like what y'can trust, as I've lived and learned!
In the Concert version especially, the way he looks at her and holds her (even burying his face in her lap in a way that doesn't seem quite innocent) looks like that of a would-be lover. He's willing to do anything to prove himself in her eyes, and if any man wanted to hurt her he would kill them- which he ultimately does. His song, Not While I'm Around, is one of the most heart-breaking love songs I've ever listened to.
For her part, Mrs. Lovett may be willing to sell out her boy in order to protect herself, but that's business as usual for her. What isn't usual is her sympathy for him, the only other person who elicits this emothion being Sweeney Todd. Her relationship with Todd borders on the abusive, and it isn't hard to imagine that she enjoys being with someone as gentle as Toby, who offers her unconditional love.
As for non-canon events, I personally could see Mrs. Lovett being the sort of person who might exploit a situation like this, expecially when her normal lover is as unresponsive as Todd. Whether she actively 'cheated' with Toby or just turned to him for comfort (or something in between) is up to the imagination, but all three options are believeable.
I ship Toby/Lovett because of how on one level their relationship is very touching (especially compared with the fascinating but deadly relationship she has with Todd), while on another it's exploitative and disturbing. She uses Toby, takes advantage of his feelings for her, and sets him up to be killed, but she still cares for him and he never stops loving her. It's the stuff romantic tragedies are made of, and it gets me every time.
IV. For Further Shippage
"Dear, see to the customers!"
Toby/Lovett fics are harder to find now that the movie made him a small child, but here are some of the better ones I found:
Protection
Who Watches The Watchers?
The Death of Innocence
And a few of my own:
A Nightmare
The Smell of Death
Guiding Hand
Also, a good general community for Sweeney Todd: _sweeneytodd
Author: dangerousdame
Fandom: Sweeney Todd
Pairing: Toby/Lovett
Spoilers: Major spoilers
Author's Note: This essay refers to the stage version of Sweeney Todd (especially the Revival and Concert stagings.)
I. The Cast
"Seems like the good lord sent you for me..."
Tobias Ragg
A handsome teenager, Toby is a boy sweet of heart and slow of mind. One of the outcasts of Victorian society, any information about his family is unknown, though it is probable he has never known any true parental care. Loyal and protective to the few who show him kindness, there is a hidden dark side to his innocent nature, with distrbing hints of violence slipping through when he thinks his love is in danger. Before meeting Mrs. Lovett, he worked as a servant for a cruel con artist calling himself Pirelli, suffering physical abuse at the least (with sexual abuse hinted at in some productions.)
Mrs. Nellie Lovett
Mrs. Lovett is a widowed pie-maker, impoverished at the start of the play. She takes a strange kind of pride in the poor quality of her wares, freely telling the odd customer that her pies are the worst in London. Though she has spent much of her life pining for a married man, her own marriage appears to have been pleasent enough, and her flirtatious manner towards most of the male characters (along with her cynically pragmatic worldview) paint her as a femme fatale. Generous and motherly but ultimately selfish, there is a hint of the sociopath about her, though she would not admit to any of her actions to be evil.
II. The Tragic Occurance at Fleet Street
"Oh, look at it now! Doesn't look like it's had a kind word since half past never!"
Mrs. Lovett first met Toby when he was hawking his masters' wares, displaying an impressive ability as a showman despite a transparantly phony product. Mrs. Lovett and her partner (in more ways than one), a man calling himself Sweeney Todd, interrupted Toby's performance to reveal the 'miracle elixer' as the fraud it was, ultimately humiliating Pirelli (and Toby by extention.)
Despite this rather upleasent meeting, the two soon took a liking to each other. Pirelli (with Toby in tow) visited the house where Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd lived, having recognized Todd as an escaped convict and planning blackmail. Horrified by the meager condition Toby was in, Mrs. Lovett took him downstairs to give him a bit to eat and drink, which he was extremely grateful for- in fact, he was one of the only people not to find her pies horrible (although it could have been that he was being starved, and would have considered anything wonderful.)
The first sign of feelings between the two came when Mrs. Lovett convinced Todd (who had killed Pirelli) to spare Toby, taking him on as a worker herself. She was a much better employer than Pirelli had been, and Toby put his old talents as a hawker to use for her. Business soon picked up, but this was not due to her new employee, but to a rather...unusual new form of meat that greatly improved her pies.
Although lovers with Todd, Mrs. Lovett grew fond of her boy, knitting him scarves and chatting with him frequently. For his part, Toby considered her to be an angel, and swore he would do anything for her and that he would protect her against anyone and anything. He couldn't quite get over his suspicions about Todd, though, nor his fears that the man would hurt Mrs. Lovett. Though she tried to calm him, he believed her to have been blinded by her love for the man, and the sight of his vanished former masters' purse confirmed his suspicions.
Still maintaining the whole thing to be foolish, Mrs. Lovett tried to placate him by allowing him to make pies, something he'd always wanted to do. Once locked in the bakehouse, however, Toby discovered the horrible truth: the wonderful meat Mrs. Lovett filled her pies with was human flesh from Todd's victims.
Mrs. Lovett quickly informed Todd that Toby had guessed about Pirelli's death, but he hid himself in the sewers when they tried to hunt him down, even refusing to come out when she promised nothing bad would happen. The murderous pair soon had their hands full with other matters, temporarily forgetting about the stray boy.
As events of the night took their course and the bodies piled up, Mrs. Lovett herself soon became one of them. Todd discovered she had hidden the existance of his supposed-dead wife from him, and murdered her in a fit of rage.
At this point, Toby re-entered, but as a rather different figure than before. Whether he had witnessed Mrs. Lovett's killing (and whether he'd ever realized she was aware of and complicit in Todd's actions) was unclear, but his experiences had left him crazed. Picking up Todd's abandoned razor, he told him he shouldn't have harmed anyone, began to chant nursery rhymes, and cut Todd's throat. As a group of horrified witnesses gathered in the room, Toby continued to put meat through the grinder, babbling about how his mistress didn't allow anyone to come in. And so the play ends, with one killer dead and another one created.
III. What Kind of Love?
"Just me warm heart, dear. Room enough in there for all god's creatures."
The relationship between Toby and Mrs. Lovett can be read as that of a mother and child or one of romantic/sexual love (or even a combination of both.) I tend to think the latter- whether or not anything happened (or could have happened) between them, Toby's love for his protector seems to me more that that of a son.
Throughout their time together, Toby is clearly besotted with Mrs. Lovett. He talks to her in a tone of worship, and constantly tries to get her apart from Todd- out of concern, of course, but also possibly jealousy:
Toby: If there were a monster or an ogre or anything bad like what was after you, I'd rip it apart. WIth my bare fists, I would!
Mrs. Lovett: What a sweet child it is.
Toby: Or even if it was just a man...
Mrs. Lovett: A man?
Toby: A man what was bad- what might be luring you, all unbeknownst into his evil deeds like!
And later on, he says what he means...
Toby: It's Mr. Todd- oh, I know you fancy him, but men ain't like women! They ain't like what y'can trust, as I've lived and learned!
In the Concert version especially, the way he looks at her and holds her (even burying his face in her lap in a way that doesn't seem quite innocent) looks like that of a would-be lover. He's willing to do anything to prove himself in her eyes, and if any man wanted to hurt her he would kill them- which he ultimately does. His song, Not While I'm Around, is one of the most heart-breaking love songs I've ever listened to.
For her part, Mrs. Lovett may be willing to sell out her boy in order to protect herself, but that's business as usual for her. What isn't usual is her sympathy for him, the only other person who elicits this emothion being Sweeney Todd. Her relationship with Todd borders on the abusive, and it isn't hard to imagine that she enjoys being with someone as gentle as Toby, who offers her unconditional love.
As for non-canon events, I personally could see Mrs. Lovett being the sort of person who might exploit a situation like this, expecially when her normal lover is as unresponsive as Todd. Whether she actively 'cheated' with Toby or just turned to him for comfort (or something in between) is up to the imagination, but all three options are believeable.
I ship Toby/Lovett because of how on one level their relationship is very touching (especially compared with the fascinating but deadly relationship she has with Todd), while on another it's exploitative and disturbing. She uses Toby, takes advantage of his feelings for her, and sets him up to be killed, but she still cares for him and he never stops loving her. It's the stuff romantic tragedies are made of, and it gets me every time.
IV. For Further Shippage
"Dear, see to the customers!"
Toby/Lovett fics are harder to find now that the movie made him a small child, but here are some of the better ones I found:
Protection
Who Watches The Watchers?
The Death of Innocence
And a few of my own:
A Nightmare
The Smell of Death
Guiding Hand
Also, a good general community for Sweeney Todd: _sweeneytodd