An essay discussing 'City of Dreadful Delight' by Judith R. Walkowitz

Violence against women was not uncommon during the nineteenth century, but how did the Jack the Ripper case make this issue a public affair? How did gender and class affect public opinion on the murders?

Essay from the year 2006 in the subject Cultural Studies - Miscellaneous, University of North Florida, 1 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In 1888, Great Britain was in the middle of the Victorian era and on the height of its international significance, mainly because of imperialistic strategies in order to abide British power by gaining resources from colonies. However, there were substantial depressions due to agricultural problems and foreign competition in regard to industrialization. Not only was the population growing rapidly but also the circulation of newspapers. This novel media phenomenon led to a huge hype regarding the Jack the Ripper murders, focusing on narratives, Victorian fantasies regarding gender and sex, and a mixture of actual facts and imaginary ideas. Within ten weeks, five murders of prostitutes took place within Whitechapel, a poor part of Eastern London. The press concentrated on various elements such as setting, mystery and motive of the homicides, possible suspects coming from different classes and circumstances, and the lives of the victims, transforming the case 'into a national scandal' (201).