Myth, Monster, Murderer

Who were the victims of Jack the Ripper? And what was the impact of his killings on women at the time, and over the last 150 years? As one of the most well-known true crime stories of our time, the tale of Jack the Ripper continues to fascinate millions of people across the world. But why is it that the story endures, and what does the story tell us about what the lives of women were like during the time it was all unfolding? Jackie Anderson and Ciara Wild explore what Victorian London was like, and the impact that the Jack the Ripper story has had on how we have viewed the roles of men and women in society since. Examining the case from an angle not interrogated before, they discuss how a series of murders were shaped by the media and public discourse into a monster hunt that became urban legend. Were these women just the unexpected victims of a knife-wielding psychopath, or were they victims of a raging hole in a social system that was never set up to help them? And could this so easily be the story of some women today?