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I stumbled upon an old thread about Punch and Judy on MC and found it very interesting. Since it was from 2003, I thought it would be better to start a new one than reply to it.
There was a lot of talk about how violent the Punch and Judy plays usually are, but it's also significant to note that in some versions, Punch wins and gets away with all his misdeeds. In one version, after he kills everyone, the devil comes for him, but he outsmarts the devil and makes him take the wrong person. Then Punch sings a gloating ditty, puts his stick over his shoulder and simply walks away as the curtain falls. In another ending, Punch actually fights the devil and wins. He then announces to the audience, "The devil is dead! Now, we can all do whatever we want!" I'd be a little hesitant about showing that version to kids. LOL
In grade school, they showed us the moralistic version where he gets eaten by a crocodile and haunted by the ghost of his wife, Judy at the end. Also, in this one, he didn't exactly beat the baby to death, but rather threw the baby in the garbage and the garbage truck took the baby away. Not much better, but a bit different. (I'd probably omit the baby all together if I was showing it. Punch and Judy are one couple that should remain childless. LOL) He killed all of the typical people in the one I saw too, including his wife, Judy. I've sometimes wondered why they even called it "Punch and Judy" since Judy really doesn't stay around that long and is just one of Punch's many victims.
One way or another, Punch and Judy has always fascinated me and I'd love to study more about the different versions and how they came to be.
There was a lot of talk about how violent the Punch and Judy plays usually are, but it's also significant to note that in some versions, Punch wins and gets away with all his misdeeds. In one version, after he kills everyone, the devil comes for him, but he outsmarts the devil and makes him take the wrong person. Then Punch sings a gloating ditty, puts his stick over his shoulder and simply walks away as the curtain falls. In another ending, Punch actually fights the devil and wins. He then announces to the audience, "The devil is dead! Now, we can all do whatever we want!" I'd be a little hesitant about showing that version to kids. LOL
In grade school, they showed us the moralistic version where he gets eaten by a crocodile and haunted by the ghost of his wife, Judy at the end. Also, in this one, he didn't exactly beat the baby to death, but rather threw the baby in the garbage and the garbage truck took the baby away. Not much better, but a bit different. (I'd probably omit the baby all together if I was showing it. Punch and Judy are one couple that should remain childless. LOL) He killed all of the typical people in the one I saw too, including his wife, Judy. I've sometimes wondered why they even called it "Punch and Judy" since Judy really doesn't stay around that long and is just one of Punch's many victims.
One way or another, Punch and Judy has always fascinated me and I'd love to study more about the different versions and how they came to be.
