Jack the Ripper: the Divided Self and the Alien Other in Late-Victorian Culture and Society

Jack the Ripper: The Divided Self and the Alien Other in Late-Victorian Culture and Society Michael Plater Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 18 July 2018 Faculty of Arts The University of Melbourne ii ABSTRACT This thesis examines late nineteenth-century public and media representations of the infamous “Jack the Ripper” murders of 1888. Focusing on two of the most popular theories of the day – Jack as exotic “alien” foreigner and Jack as divided British “gentleman” – it contends that these representations drew upon a series of emergent social and cultural anxieties in relation to notions of the “self” and the “other.” Examining the widespread contention that “no Englishman” could have committed the crimes, it explores late-Victorian conceptions of Englishness and documents the way in which the Ripper crimes represented a threat to these dominant notions of British identity and masculinity. In doing so, it argues that late-Victorian fears of the external, foreign “other” ultimately masked deeper anxieties relating to the hidden, unconscious, instinctual self and the “other within.” Moreover, it reveals how these psychological concerns were connected to emergent social anxieties regarding degeneration, atavism and the “beast in man.” As such, it evaluates the wider psychological and sociological impact of the case, arguing that the crimes revealed the deep sense of fracture, duality and instability that lay beneath the surface of late-Victorian English life, undermining and challenging dominant notions of progress, civilisation and social advancement. Situating the Ripper narrative within a broader framework of late-nineteenth century cultural uncertainty and crisis, it therefore argues that the crimes (and, more specifically, populist perceptions of these crimes) represented a key defining moment in British history, serving to condense and consolidate a whole series of late-Victorian fears in relation to selfhood and identity. iii PREFACE Publications: “Educated Men and Wild Beasts: Jack the Ripper, Medical Science and Degeneration in Late- Victorian Culture and Society.” Published by Melbourne Historical Journal, May 2018. “Man Is Not Truly One, But Truly Two: Jack the Ripper, the Divided Self and the ‘Other Within’ in Late-Victorian Culture and Society.” Published by Antithesis Journal, October 2018. Funding Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) 2014 Graduate Research in Arts Travel Scholarship 2016 Research Training Program Scholarship 2017 iv DECLARATION This thesis compromises only original work towards my PhD. Due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other materials used. This thesis is fewer than the maximum world limit in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. Michael Plater. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments vi List of Illustrations vii Introduction 1 Chapter One: 20 “East Vs West”: Jack the Ripper, Self and Other in Late-Victorian Society Chapter Two: 33 “The Men That Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing”: Jack the Ripper, Jewishness and the Other as Threat Chapter Three: 51 “Man Is Not Truly One, But Truly Two”: Jack the Ripper, the Divided Self and the Body as Other Chapter Four: 63 “Educated Men and Wild Beasts”: Jack the Ripper, Medical Science and the Divided Gentleman in Late-Victorian Culture Chapter Five: 79 “The Victim’s Victim”: Jack the Ripper, Self, Other and the Female Body Chapter Six: 99 “After the Same Stile”: Jack the Ripper, the Divided Self and the Alien Other in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Popular Culture Chapter Seven: 128 “Unconscious Mania”: Jack the Ripper, the Subliminal Mind and the Unconscious Self Conclusion 148 Appendix 155 Bibliography 159 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my supervisors Sara Wills and James Bradley for their advice, counsel and suggestions throughout the long and drawn-out process of writing this thesis. I also wish to acknowledge the staff at the National Archives, the London Hospital and the Metropolitan Archives for their assistance with my research. Thanks to Glenn Williams for having me on his excellent radio show “Dark Moments” (Main FM, Castlemaine) to discuss my work and research. Thanks to everyone at the Melbourne Historical Journal and Antithesis, and thanks to my U.K. friend and fellow Ripper scholar Roger Dalrymple for his advice and comments. I would also like to thank my brother, Dr David Plater and his wife Coby, and my sister Alison, for their help throughout, and my parents Evelyn and John Plater. Most importantly, I wish to thank my wonderful partner, Fawnia Mountford, for her unconditional support. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the victims of the Whitechapel murderer – Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly - whose life stories and voices have all too often been ignored in the process of mythologising and sensationalising these truly appalling crimes. Violent crime against women is an ongoing and all-too- depressing factor in our society, and it is important to understand the historical, sociological and psychological conditions that contribute to such events, in the hope of somehow preventing such occurrences in the future. vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. “Sketch of the Supposed Murderer” Page 36 Illustrated Police News, 20 October 1888. 2. Representation of the Ripper Page 37 Illustrated London News, 13 October 1888. 3. Richard Mansfield as Jekyll and Hyde, c.1888 Page 103 Double-exposure publicity photograph by Van der Weyde (courtesy of the Library of Congress). 4. “The Nemesis of Neglect” Page 113 Punch Magazine, 29 September 1888. 5. “East End Horrors” Page 116 Illustrated Police News, 8 December 1888 6. Cover Image: The Whitechapel Murders Page 117 The Whitechapel Murders or Mysteries of the East End (London: G. Purkiss, 1888). 7. “Horrible London” Page 117 Punch Magazine, 13 October 1888. 8. “Spring-Heeled Jack, the Terror of London” Page 120 Nineteenth-century edition, publication details unknown. 9. Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street Page 120 Nineteenth-century edition, publication details unknown. viii 1 INTRODUCTION Murderers and their deeds raise acutely the fundamental moral and psychological questions of our existence…The proper study of mankind is murder (Theodore Dalrymple).1 On Saturday 15 September 1888, the East London Observer published a story on the brutal murder of Whitechapel sex worker Annie Chapman, the second in a series of (at least) five murders that would come to be attributed to an unknown killer dubbed “Jack the Ripper” (see Appendix for a summary and timeline of the crimes).2 In describing the heightened atmosphere of “mingled excitement, awe, and indignation” that followed news of the murder, the paper noted how it was “repeatedly asserted” by members of the public “that no Englishman could have perpetrated such a horrible crime.”3 Played out on the streets of London’s East End throughout the autumn of 1888, these “Jack the Ripper” crimes would become the most sensational and widely discussed murder case of the nineteenth century. The crimes have continued to be a source of fascination, conjecture, and heated debate, becoming, arguably, the most famous unsolved murder case in history. Focusing on late nineteenth-century public and press reactions to the murders, this thesis argues that the widespread perception that “no Englishman” could have committed the crimes drew upon a number of emergent social and cultural anxieties in relation to late-Victorian conceptions of the “self.” I suggest that these anxieties centred upon the fundamental tension between “self” and “other” that was increasingly prevalent in late nineteenth-century British society and argue that the Ripper case both reflected and actively contributed to this sense of cultural crisis and division. 1 Theodore Dalrymple, ‘‘Revolting Insouciance or Genuine Amnesia?” Spectator, Volume 273, Issue 8672 (24 September 1994): 9-10. 2 There is no definitive consensus on the number of victims in the Ripper case. The official police files on the murders contain the names of nine women: Emma Smith, Martha Tabram, Mary Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, Mary Kelly, Alice McKenzie and Frances Coles. Of these, Nichols, Chapman, Stride, Eddowes, and Kelly are generally referred as the “canonical five,” based on the likelihood of them all being murdered by the same perpetrator. “Home Office Files.” HO/144/220 [microfiche]. Archived at National Archives of London. 3 “A Reign of Terror in Whitechapel,” East London Observer, Saturday, 15 September 1888. Available at: http://www.casebook.org/press_reports/east_london_observer/elo880915 [14/08/2013]. 2 In examining these themes of “self” and “other” in relation to the Ripper crimes, my work focuses on two of the most popular theories of the day – the idea of Jack as “foreigner” and the idea of Jack as divided British “gentleman.” The first theory centres upon public perceptions of the Ripper as racially “other” or “alien,” as somehow “outside” British culture and society. In this, I explore the extent to which Jewish immigrants living in London’s East End were suspected of the murders, and the way in which these accusations drew upon themes of “otherness” as a contaminating, subversive threat to the British sense of “self.” The second theory – the Ripper as gentleman – focuses upon public perceptions of the Ripper as respectable British professional, leading a double or “divided” life.4 In this, my work pays particular attention

Load more