The case of Jack the Ripper is the epitome of the nineteenth century problems. The fact that it was able to happen shows the state of the Eastend of London brought about by the industrial revolution. Jack the Ripper shed light on this darkness in the Jewel of the empire. 1888 was a time when this murderer could force more change than normal men. A socialist newspaper at the time, the Commonweal on 15th September wrote, “in our age of contradictions and absurdities, a fiend murderer may become a more effective reformer than the honest propagandist. ”
Each increasingly brutal action shed light on a different aspect of the Eastend Underworld focussing on the numerous fears amongst metropolitan dwellers . Jack the Ripper, according to Frayling , appeared to have motives beyond human understanding and even more contemporary interpretations of this case suggest that Jack the Ripper “wanted to give birth to the twentieth century. ” Whether this was his intention or not will never be known but the reaction to his case was social reform and changes for the better.
Whitechapel was among the poorest parts of London’s Eastend with a large immigrant population and the lowest wage. The employment rate in the Eastend wasn’t stable and many people were in and out of work. To survive, working class men and women had to follow more nefarious paths to make money. The proximity to the docks meant that the transient population brought many new avenues to make money including brothels and prostitution but this brought its own issues.
The transient population from the docks was hard to police; people were in and out of London with little registration making the dark streets of Whitechapel the perfect backdrop to murder. The police, prior to the case, had been under media scrutiny. Mr Burchell’s letter in the East London Observer July 1888 before the murders headlined “Where are the police?” and the publication “Punch’s” popular image (Appendix 1) of a game of Blind man’s bluff depicting a policeman ‘detecting’ criminals demonstrates public feeling. The police service was being questioned due to diminishing trust.
The “ever present danger of mischievous agitators and unruly mobs ” worried locals directly and street gangs like the Nichols gang had been attacking unaccompanied prostitutes and demanding protection money. The media and West London’s elite had been showing concern about public safety shown by the image of crime as a phantom on the dark streets of London, unable to be caught and always hiding in the shadows, depicted by the aptly titled “Nemesis of Neglect” (Appendix 2). Police wouldn’t enter the Eastend without a partner . The fear of the “dangerous classes ” rising up. Charles Warren asked for more money and more men in his annual report stating “the rapid increase both of buildings and population…outrun the increase which it has been possible to make the police force” quoting that for “5,476,447 people there were 8773 police” distributed ineffectively causing the need to draft in from other districts of London in order to try and handle the worsening situation. Warren’s reputation was ruined after “Bloody Sunday” was mishandled, but the mass media praised him supporting the idea that the burdens of policing the Eastend increased more rapidly than the resource of constables. International newspapers even suggested that the London police force contributed as much as the living conditions, allowing these murders to happen. The New York Times wrote that the London police and detective forces were probably the stupidest in the world asserted not only by the papers abroad but also police counterparts abroad including Inspector Byrnes of the NYPD, strengthening the lobby for police reform.
The Jack the Ripper case shows a lot about the birth of the tabloids and the influence on the general populace in England and abroad. The media were chastised by the forums like the Lancet 27/10 and the British Medical Journal for sensationalising the brutal murders . Unscrupulous journalism, including uncorroborated sources, during the “lull” in September 1888 helped the general competition for newspapers sales . The media, like the Jack the Ripper case itself, may not have intended it, but their actions actually helped awaken public consciousness to the connection between the impoverished Eastend situation and the ability to murder so freely. The Lancet and the British Medical Journal also confirmed that the East end needed reform
The newspapers obsession allowed philanthropic campaigns like Reverend Samuel Barnett’s, against the public indifference to the true causes of the reign of terror, to come into the limelight. He suggested that public funds should be used to fund the addition of streetlights and sanitation according to the Lancet 6/10 and the British Medical Journal described the awareness through media as having a fruitful effect on the social well-being of the metropolis . The more liberal and radical media used the Jack the Ripper case to call for social reform stating the murders could be blamed on the pernicious effects of slum life like over-crowding, the need for prostitution and poverty.
At least two of the victims were thrown out of doss houses because they didn’t have the 4d to pay for shelter. Amelia Palmer, an associate of Annie Chapman, spoke to her that night. Annie stated she had earned enough money to stay three times over but she had spent it on alcohol . This strengthened the argument that Jack the Ripper’s victims contributed to their vulnerability through immorality and alcohol. However this depends on your landlord because Mary Kelly was in arrears with the rent for her room causing her landlord’s agent to visit the morning after the murder. It has been suggested that, because she was young and beautiful, the landlord was possibly out to exploit a vulnerable woman.
This is a blinkered view of the situation as the economic downturn and the instability of employment meant that the women who worked the streets tended to be forced there as the victims appeared to be living literally hand to mouth and despite the perceived immorality given the option most would not choose that profession . The hard hearted and short term view of these “reformers” led to the closure of the brothels at the docks and displaced several prostitutes. The brothels may not have been pleasant but were a refuge for fallen women, showing that the main aim was removing immorality not social reform; fighting not for the Eastend but for Victorian values.
Immigration from Russia was perceived as a major issue in London’s Eastend and the Jack the Ripper case was also used as a focal point for racial attacks against the Eastend immigrants as the “obvious scapegoats” . Police officers were slow to see the seriousness of the crime because they assumed it was a “Jewish Socialist” working to discredit the police . As the police deserted their gang theory the stories surrounding the “Leather Apron” suspect arose . These stories could well have been purely xenophobia because John Pizer was arrested as leather apron and he was a Jewish artisan. The newspapers and high society were quick to blame a foreigner, suggesting no Englishman would perpetrate such a crime.
The “Double Event” brought anti-semitism into the limelight again as Liz Stride was found near a Jewish Socialist club by the steward, Louis Diemschutz. There have been questions surrounding the legitimacy of this victim as a Ripper murder and as the “Goulston Street Graffiti” was found at this point in the murder investigation it could have been an elaborate anti-semitic plot. Charles Warren had this graffiti removed fearing the safety of the Jewish community. It led to the club being raided by the police and along with the “Leather Apron” scandal the media took hold of a Jewish suspect.
The “Illustrated Police News” October 1888 issue cited the new “Supposed Suspects”. This paper was popular for its gruesome and fantastical approach to portraying current crime and atrocity, pretending affinity with the police. This particular issue uses its atmospheric artwork to demonise potential suspects although there is a difference; the “Jewish suspect” is considerably darker than the other. The man is unkempt and poorly dressed, and is the epitome of the stereotypical image of the destitute Jewish immigrant at the time. The use of artistic license and technique means that this image looks more evil than others.
At this time with the Anti-Semitic feeling surrounding the Jack the Ripper case, these images guaranteed sales, pandering to popular opinion. The recent arrest of the Jewish John “Leather Apron” Pizer and the surrounding anti-semitism including by the police, as the investigating inspector reported , led to further anti-immigrant feelings, creating groups like the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee and the BBL.
Alternatively, Booth writes that London’s Eastend reputation was an “image created by the late Victorian Newspapermen” and the Eastend lay hidden from view behind a curtain on which were painted terrible pictures. He states that within this area only 1.2% of the population was part of the criminal class and 60% were decent hard working people, the rest lived on the poverty line and, like prostitutes, had to survive. Macnagnten, agreed with this saying that the press interest in the case of Jack the Ripper was unhelpful and misleading, encouraging unreasonable panic in many working class women and ascribing murders to this possibly made up character that didn’t fit the modus operandi . Sugden , suggests that the Jack the Ripper letters could well be a hoax created by a journalist. Alternatively, it could be interpreted that this signature was an irony pulling together all the fears within the dangerous Eastend and wrapping them in a name associated with negative characters of folklore like Spring heeled Jack .
More could be written about the state of the Eastend using Jack. I have concentrated on the main issues of focus. The Ripper case opens a new door into the streets of the Eastend of London in 1888, with each murder seeming to concentrate on a different negative aspect of Eastend society. Each victim and headline appeared at the most opportune moment for the murderer, including the suspects like “Leather Apron”. The victims showed the effects of alcohol abuse and the need for shelter from the streets. They highlighted the problem with racism, the criminality of the Eastend and police inadequacy.
Mary Kelly was an anomaly; young and attractive, she wasn’t even safe in her own home. She was mutilated in the most vicious ways because she was hidden away. Each murder was a little worse than the last and no one heard anything from the silent assassin. Once the job was done he disappeared and reform began. Jack the Ripper became Jack the Missionary pinpointing each problem and showing not only the country but the world what the Eastend was like. The new tabloid media, despite condemnation, kept these stories in the forefront allowing the true nature of the Eastend to be revealed and also showing the corruption and self-serving nature of philanthropy.
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