| Popis: |
The tales of Sawney Bean and Sweeney Todd continue to haunt British and American culture well beyond the periods of their first appearance. Both tales have proven so popular that they have seen numerous tellings and retellings in a variety of mediums. Sawney Bean, which began to appear in travel pamphlets and biographies of criminals around 1700, became the focus of novels beginning with Sawney Bean: The Man-Eater of Midlothian in 1844 and continues to inform popular culture today, serving as an influential story for films such as The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and Evil Breed: The Legend of Samhain (2003). The story of Sweeney Todd witnessed an even greater explosion after its serialized release as a part of The String of Pearls between November 1846 and March 1847. Well before the story was complete, London playhouses – eager to cash in on the popularity of the story – produced stage productions of Sweeney Todd (Crone 68); and Todd’s tale has been a fixture of popular culture ever since and reproduced in numerous stage, print, radio and screen adaptations. Why have these tales continued to remain so popular? |
