Appellative function

This function is linked to the receiver and is therefore heavily dependent on dialogue. The most characteristic forms of speeches with a great deal of appellative content are imperatives or commands and acts of persuasion. In most cases commands and imperatives are, from a textual point of view, much shorter than the speeches in which some-one is persuaded to do something or to think something. These two types of appellative speeches have one thing in common: they change the dramatic situation.

In Sweeney Todd there are two major examples of this kind of speech: Pirelli's miracle elixir and A little Priest. In this section I'll discuss the latter because the former will be discussed in the section on the phatic function.

In A little Priest Mrs. Lovett successfully convinces Todd that it is better instead of throwing the bodies away to grind them so they can be used in meat-pies. It is interesting to see how Todd accepts this proposition, but seen in the light of the Epiphany this is not strange. Mrs. Lovett's ideas just give Todd another reason to bring his revenge on mankind.

It is sensible to look at the dramatic situation. The dramatic situation is that Todd and Mrs. Lovett just killed Pirelli and Mrs. Lovett is wondering how they could get rid of the body. At the beginning of the song, just after Todd has sung the Epiphany, Todd drops down into the barber's chair in a sweat^5.6. And then th e play continues as follows:

MRS. LOVETT: (Who has been watching him intently) That's all very well, but all that matters now is him! (She points to the chest. Todd still sits motionless. She goes to him, peers at him) Listen! Do you hear me? Can you hear me? (She slaps his cheek. After a long pause Todd, still in a half dream, gets to his feet) What are we going to do about him? And there's the lad downstairs^5.7. We'd better go and have a look and be sure he's still there. When I left him he was sound asleep in the parlor. (She starts downstairs) Come on! (Todd follows. She disappears into the back parlor and re-emerges) No problem there. He's still sleeping. He's simple as a baby lamb. Later I can fob him off withe some story easy. But him! (Indicates the tonsorial parlor above) What are we going to with him?
TODD: (Disinterestedly) Later on when it's dark we'll take him out of the trunk and bury him.
MRS. LOVETT: Well, of course we could do that. I don't suppose he's got any relatives going to come poking around looking for him.(After a pause. Music starts) You know me. Sometime ideas just pop into my head and I was^5.8thinking.(Sings) Seems a downright shame.
TODD:(Spoken) Shame?
MRS. LOVETT: Sung Seems an awful waste
Such a nice plump frame
Wat's-'is-name has...
had... Bus'ness needs a lift
Debts to be erased
Think of it as thrift
As a gift
If you get my drift
(Todd is staring into space)
(Spoken) No? (Sighs) (Sung) Seems an awful waste

One of the things that struck me in this dialogue was the complete lack of interest of both speakers in the person of Pirelli. Todd does not really care what happens to the body and Mrs. Lovett can not even remember the body's name. This lack of interest in one of the basic building stones of this duet. On the other hand it can be argued that Todd's lack of interest in the death of Pirelli is not strange when seen in the light of the opinions he aired so strongly in the epiphany.

It has often been said that this number coming just after the Epiphany deflates the dramatic tension built up during the previous number. I do not share this criticism. From the perspective of dramatic structure it is perfectly defendable to have such a seemingly light-hearted song with such a morbid and vindictive undertone. Todd's feelings are (ab)used by Mrs. Lovett for her own advantage. Seen from that perspective A Little Priest is a logical consequence of the Epiphany

One of the other misconceptions about this that Todd is the active party . This of course is not the case. Mrs. Lovett apparently listened very carefully to Todd while he sang the Epiphany and now tries to put Todd's revengefulness to her own advantage. In that aspect she is not unlike Lady MacBeth. And Todd being totally convinced of the justice of his revenge is easily persuaded by Mrs. Lovett.

We will now take a closer look at how this process of persuasion works in this particular case. If we compare Mrs. Lovett's speech with a normal rhetoric speech we will find at least some similarities, although the kind of rhetoric employed by her, is quite crude. In a normal rhetoric speech, the speaker begins with a so-called inventio. The inventio is used to pose the problems. In this case there is one main and one minor problem. The main problem is getting rid of the body. The minor problem is the fact that Mrs. Lovett's pie-shop is not doing so well so ''business needs a lift''. And in the course of the song, Mrs. Lovett convinces Todd that one problem solves another.

After the inventio Mrs. Lovett immediately gives the solution:

MRS. LOVETT: I mean with the price of meat
What it is,
When you get it,
If you get it,
(Todd chuckles)
Good you got it.

Todd is showing some understanding of the direction Mrs. Lovett's words are going. In the music we find the seduction motive. But Mrs. Lovett isn't done clarifying herself:

MRS. LOVETT: Take for instance Mrs. Mooney and her pieshop
Bus'ness never better using only pussy-cats and toast
Now a pussy's good for maybe six or seven at the most
And I'm sure they can't compare as far taste

The seduction motive figures heavily in this section, both in normal and in inverted form. In the the lyrics Mrs. Lovett finally makes a connection between Pirelli's body and its use as ingredient in her meat-pies. And Todd finally shows some real understanding of Mrs. Lovett's plans:

TODD	MRS. LOVETT
Mrs. Lovett
What a charming notion
Eminently	Well, it
Practical and yet	does seem a waste
appropriate as always...
	(Spoken) It's an idea
Mrs. Lovett
How I did without you
all these years I'll never know
How de-	Think about it!
lectable	Lots of other gentlemen'll
	soon be
Also unde-	coming for a shave
tectable	Won't they?
How	Think of
choice! How	all them
rare!	pies...

We see that the two of them have different motives for executing the same plan. In the music we find that the musical motives are partial inversion of one another.

As I said, the rhetorical style is somewhat crude for it lacks, for instance, something as sophisticated as a refutatio. No real argument is needed, so they jump from the inventio right on to the confirmatio. This confirmatio is formed by a stream of social criticism, which although much milder than in the Epiphany, still shows the despise Todd has for society in general:

TODD: For what's the sound of the world out there?
MRS. LOVETT: What, Mister Todd?
What, Mister Todd?
What is that sound?
TODD: Those crunching noises pervading the air?
MRS. LOVETT: Yes, Mr. Todd,
Yes, Mr. Todd,
Yes, all around,
TODD: It's man devouring men my dear
And...
MRS. LOVETT: Then
TOGETHER: who are we to deny it in here?

What's this section in fact is saying is: ''If you can't beat them, join them''.

Because this section is about the appellative function I shall not discuss the rest of this duet.

Suffice it to say that the first part of A Little Priest and the Epiphany have a strong functional connection. A closer look at the very beginning of A Little Priest reveals that Mrs. Lovett, in order to convince Todd, had to arouse and to sustain his attention. The phatic function is related with the creation and the establishment of channels of communication. This function will form the subject of discussion in the next section.