Keywords: THESIS3

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# The super-imposition of epic communication structures on figure reference

A character can not only be referenced to by other dramatic figures. The use of epic communication structures is also a frequently used method of figure reference.

We find a perfect example of this in the Ballad of Sweeney Todd which will be discussed in the next chapter. This is song is not part of any dramatic action and is sung by figures who at the moment they sing this ballad become detached from the action. Yet it has a huge referential function, since it refers to Sweeney Todd himself. Sweeney is not characterized by his own utterances but also by this form of reference.

This form of both verbal and musical reference to a dramatic figure by using epic communication structures is not an uncommon technique. I dare even suggest that this is the main application of these structures. There is another example of this in a song I shall also discuss in the next chapter namely Poor Thing.

The degree of a figure's awareness always remains within the bounds of what is possible in the psychological, spatial and temporal context. Hence a figure's speech capability or level of articulation never transgresses these boundaries. A dramatist must therefore avoid any further æsthetical structuring of the language that is not motivated in the internal communication system.

That is why Mrs. Lovett's discourse on what happened after Todd had been deported shows some rhetorical errors. First of all she digresses quite often, and Todd has to remind her that she is telling only one story. And then there is the fact the she is very direct, offering no metaphors to beguile the mind: only the story, plainly and clearly. On the other hand one could argue that this enough to move the mind. Apparently she does not have the articulation-skills to create such an esthetic discourse and even as she sings, her skills of articulation do not increase. Thus, although Poor Thing has its main function in the external communication system, Mrs. Lovett never transgresses the boundaries of her own level of articulation.

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