A Twisted Attraction

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"My knifes so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away…."

-Jack the Ripper

A Twisted Attraction

Jack the Ripper few names in history are as recognizable as this anonymous assailant's. Violence has always been a twisted attraction for many, yet the mere name 'Jack the Ripper' conjures images of brutality and murder more than one hundred years later. Why is this symbol of crime as popular today as he was during Victorian times? What has continued the fascination with such a villain? More has been written on Jack the Ripper than on all the U.S. presidents combined, and the allure still continues to capture interest generations later.

To understand why Jack the Ripper still carries attention over a century later it is necessary to be familiar with the circumstances under which this villain became so popular in the first place. Hundreds of letters were received from the alleged murderer by police, newspapers, and other individuals associated with the case during the Ripper's reign of terror. Of these numerous letters, three proved to be "lasting food for Ripper scholars" and two actually coined the name "Jack the Ripper." These two letters, written in red ink, were circulated as police "placed facsimiles of them outside every police station," hoping to obtain recognition of the murderer's handwriting (Bardsley, ch. 8). The letters were published in their entirety in just about every major newspaper in England at that time, creating more publicity than any other case in history up to that point. Needless to say, the publishing of his letters only created a series of copy-cat letters delivered by the hundreds. The third letter was sent to George Lusk, head of the Mile End Vigilance Committee and was accompanied by a segment of a human kidney, supposedly infected by Bright's disease which affected the victim Kate Eddowes as determined by police surgeon Dr. Brown. This letter was agreed to have been written by a different hand than the previous two and was signed simply "Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk." The third letter sparked further debate and testimony from those involved with the murders, providing another continued aspect of the mystery blown up by the press.

The press was, by far, the most involved contributor towards the publicity of the Ripper murders during 1888. From the discovery of the first victim, Nichols, on August 1 through the publicity surrounding Kelly's murder on November 16, the Times published approximately 11,000 words about the murders and related topics (Curtis 0). One newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, produced a total of seventy-two columns in roughly twenty-four issues, boasting "the highest circulation (roughly 00,000) of any morning paper in London" (Curtis 01). Even after evidence that he had stopped murdering, any attack on a woman, especially an assault by knife-point, "spurred Fleet Street to revive the specter of the Ripper. Not even the absence of a slashed throat… deterred journalists" from bringing up his name (Curtis 06). For example, when reporting the Poplar residence murder of a woman "Lizzie," the newspaper, the Star, used the extended headline stating "IS HE A THUG?/ A STARTLING LIGHT ON THE WHITECHAPEL CRIMES/ THE ROPE BEFORE THE KNIFE," connecting these cases as "the work of the same man" (Curtis 06). The Poplar murders did not bear the signature mutilations of the Whitechapel crimes; however, the press continued to exploit the infamous name Jack the Ripper all the same.

The Ripper's connection with notoriety also weighs heavily on the serial killer's choice of victims. All five victims were prostitutes working in London's disreputable East End, and all but one, Mary Kelly, were over the age of forty. Because of their lifestyles, the press was able to utilize the lurid, scandalous side of the crimes, thus building additional allure. The Ripper preyed on women "trapped in the downward spiral of drink and prostitution" and broken marriages, allowing the press to establish a twisted attraction with the crimes among the population (Sinister World of Jack the Ripper). Mary Anne Nichols, "Polly," was the first to fall victim at the hand of the Ripper. After the betrayal of her husband, "Polly" succumbed to prostitution as an effort to support five children. Annie Chapman, "a street hardened rouge," Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes also resorted to prostitution late in life after a series of downfalls and habitual drinking (Sinister World). At age 5, Mary Kelly proved to be an exception in the usual targets of the East End murders. Being "tall and pretty, and as fair as a lily," she was much more suitable for London's prestigious West End (Sinister World).

In combination with the sexual innuendo in the Ripper's crimes, the animalistic nature of the slaughters also produced substantial fear and fascination. Each victim's throat was slashed through the jugular vein by a six to eight inch blade, almost to the point of decapitation, the abdomen severed and laid open with the intestines lifted outside the body, and "the uterus and its appendages, with the upper portion of the vagina and the posterior two-thirds of the bladder…entirely removed" (Bardsley, ch. 4). The deceased were arranged with the legs "drawn up, the feet resting on the ground, and the knees turned outwards" and skirts lifted to the pelvis. It is pure human nature to be intrigued with obscurity or grotesqueness, and it is that basic instinct that continues to drive the fascination with the 'Whitechapel Murders' (Bardsley, ch. 4). Filmmakers, writers, and the like continue to use aspects of the Ripper murders in the entertainment industry to attract audiences and develop money-making thrillers such as the recent Ripper spin-off From Hell.

The murders have remained among the world's greatest unsolved mysteries, capturing the undying interest of both skilled and recreational sleuths for over one hundred years. "Despite the thousands of hours of work on this case, there is not yet one suspect for which a strong unimpeachable case can be made," making Jack the Ripper a classic 'whodunit' legend (Bardsley, ch. 1). This 'faceless predator' offered few clues to police and "at the time of the murders, detectives had never before experienced the apparently motiveless brutality of the world's first serial killer," creating uncertainty among authorities and allowing blame to be fingered upon many unjustified suspects. "Developing persuasive cases about Jack the Ripper suspects has become a profitable cottage industry," much has been written on naming anyone who fit the basic description of a right-handed white male between the ages of twenty and forty; the only distinguishing factors being that some medical expertise and a possible foreign affiliation. (Bardsley, ch. 11) Anyone and everyone was a suspect. Even Prince Albert Victor, the Duke of Clarence, was at one point blamed due to his "twilight trips to the East End to indulge in homosexual practices" (Sinister World). The fact that the victim Mary Kelly was nursemaid to the prince's wife at the time only fueled the authorities and the press with the discredit needed for prosecution. Patricia Cornwell turned Jack the Ripper into a nationwide best-seller in her latest book Portrait of a Killer. In her novel Cornwell claims that the British painter Walter Sickert to be the culprit after her forensic team studied the Ripper letters along with over thirty of Sickert's paintings. When pictures taken of Catherine Eddowes' sutured throat were juxtaposed with Sickert's painting Le Journal, Cornwell found that "the similarities are startling" (Cornwell 40).

Jack the Ripper has been resurrected sporadically over the last hundred years by the media, allowing his infamous name to live on. With the release of "official United Kingdom government archives" indicating secret material not to be opened until 188, the public relived the horrors of the Ripper's crimes (Sinister World). No further clues were established and it was found that much of the material was actually missing, creating more gossip in an already scandalous case. Numerous films, books, and newspapers have been sold, making the 'Whitechapel murderer' a huge money-making industry. The Original London Walks company offers a "guided walk… visiting the sites where the murders were committed," reviving the ghost of the Ripper each night at seven-thirty (Sinister World).

Many features of the Ripper crimes have established an undying curiosity surrounding the murders. An ever increasing volume of media is being written depicting aspects relating to victims, suspects, and circumstances of the legendary serial killer, generating a symbol of crime as renown today as in Victorian times. The mystery and grotesqueness of the murders has spurred a continuing fascination with the Ripper, exposing the case as a truly twisted attraction.

Works Cited

Bardsley, Marilyn. "Jack the Ripper." Court TV's Crime Library. 1 Apr. 00.

http//www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/ripper/index_1.html?sect=1.

Cornwell, Patricia. Portrait of a Killer Jack the Ripper Case Closed. New York

Penguin, 00.

Curtis, Perry L., Jr. Jack the Ripper and the London Press. Yale University Press 001.

Sinister World of Jack the Ripper. 18 Apr. 00.

http//www.accomadata.co.uk/jack/html.

Works Cited

Bardsley, Marilyn. "Jack the Ripper." Court TV's Crime Library. 1 Apr. 00.

http//www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/ripper/index_1.html?sect=1.

Cornwell, Patricia. Portrait of a Killer Jack the Ripper Case Closed. New York

Penguin, 00.

Curtis, Perry L., Jr. Jack the Ripper and the London Press. Yale University Press 001.

Sinister World of Jack the Ripper. 18 Apr. 00.

http//www.accomadata.co.uk/jack/html.

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