Lesson 1: The Setting, the Crimes, and the Victims
This lesson will go into the conditions and social climate of Victorian England at the time of his crimes. The Whitechapel district and a brief sketch of his victims will be described as well as the details of the murders of Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly.
Who Was Jack the Ripper?
Jack the Ripper is the name given to the most notorious serial killer in history. The Ripper terrorized the Whitechapel district on the East side of London, England in 1888. This frightening period is often referred to as the "Autumn of Terror." The name Jack the Ripper is derived from letters written to the police and newspapers at the time of the crimes by someone who claimed to be the killer.
Jack the Ripper has been believed by various historians and researchers to have been in turn a doctor, a lawyer, an artist, a butcher, a barber, and has through speculation assumed countless other identities. Some even believe that he was more than one man and that the Ripper murders were the result of a complicated conspiracy.
Several witnesses claimed to have sighted Jack the Ripper at the time of the murders, yet he was never caught. The known murders took place from between August 31 to November 9, all in the same area. Jack was responsible for the deaths of at least five women.
This lesson will go into the conditions and social climate of Victorian England at the time of his crimes. The Whitechapel district and a brief sketch of his victims will be described as well as the details of the murders of Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly.
There are many good books about the Jack the Ripper case. Because some of them are older and difficult to obtain, the main sources used in this course will be Portrait of a Killer--Jack the Ripper:Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell and The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper by Jakubowski, Maxim and Nathan Braud. Any reading assignments will be from these two sources. Another good source for general information is The Complete History of Jack the Ripper by Philip Sugden. (revised edition) The most comprehensive website on the Jack the Ripper case is Casebook: Jack the Ripper. There you will find a wealth of information about the victims, the suspects, theories and much more. We will be visiting there often.
Though by no means the first serial killer in history, Jack the Ripper was the first to attain a large amount of news coverage. This was due to the growing literacy of the general population as well as the fact that the political climate at the time served as a breeding ground for a sensational story such as the murders. The brutality of the crimes as well as the fact that he was never caught is responsible for keeping his legend alive. Even today, over 100 years later, books and movies are being made and experts are still speculating....who was Jack the Ripper?
