EASY Sweeney Todd Question

Well Lucy Barker was depressed after Benjamin (Sweeney) was sent away, and that depression increased ten-fold after she was raped by Judge Turpin, which led to her attempted suicide that made her crazy.

I think it's fair to say that in addition to his other psychological problems, Sweeney suffers from major depressive disorder. One could make the case that "The Barber and His Wife" is as much about how alone in the world he feels as much as it is about how much he hates it. The lyric "I too have sailed the world and seen its wonders, for the cruelty of men is as wondrous as Peru" very much speaks to that, as does the line, "My mind is far from easy, for in these once familiar streets I feel the chill of ghostly shadows everywhere."

Read the libretto, watch the movie or the film of the original production, or one of the thousands of bootlegs on YouTube. What the hell happened to doing research for yourself? Why can't you find the line (or moment or implication) yourself? I assume you have eyes, and you can read. I'm sorry, and I know I'm going to get slammed for being "mean" or whatever, but plenty of us have written theses and didn't constantly rely on other people to do the legwork for us. It's a long, grueling, ultimately rewarding process, and I've been quiet up until now while others have spoken up with similar sentiment -- but at the risk of sounding like a bitch, I find it both angering and frustrating that you seem to be refusing to look for things on your own. And no, posting on a message board and asking for it isn't "looking." Engage with the text. Rule number one of writing about anything like this.

Surely somebody will provide you with an answer and you won't end up having to do any work for yourself, but after seeing you post here about paper after paper after paper and now about your THESIS, I had to voice my opinion.

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Updated On: 12/19/10 at 04:47 PM

Maybe I would be better-liked if I decided to write it for her.

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EL OH EL

Be sure to cite this thread appropriately!

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Sweeney may not have Major Depressive Disorder--he could be suffering from Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood. I would argue that his stressor is still present, plus he gets a new one when he finds out about Lucy and Johanna.

Also, I'm not sure he meets criteria for a major depressive episode. We would need to know more information about his sleeping and eating habits, energy levels, etc.

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I just post-stalked the OP...and I have to agree: Do you EVER do you own research? Or come up with your own ideas, or even trust your own opinions??

I admit, I seldom remember one poster from the next (unless they are regulars) but I will most defintely remember this one. And while there will always be folks that innocently help her along (or don't think there is anything wrong with her not actually doing her own work) she won't be getting it from me anymore.

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The thing is you're not going to get an answer spoon fed to you by wikipedia. There is a lot of difference between shamelessly, blatantly asking for the answer - and researching.

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I suppose what should concern me more than anything else is that this is for a thesis.

Oddly, I'm not.

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I suppose popular opinion made me look into it more. As I stated, since I seldom remember an infrequent poster, I didn't realize it was a pattern. THAT has been now made obvious.

But, it really shouldn't have mattered since the op stated it was for a paper.

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