Why did Whitechapel murders attract so much attention in 1888?
The Whitechapel murderers attracted so much attention from the media and the public for various reasons. Firstly, the modus operandi [the way that he killed his victims] was quite extraordinary for that time. The nature of them was so gory and gruesome that the public became intrigued about them and wanted to know more. Up until then the public were not use to such attacks so when they came about they were attracted to them, as it was something new. Nevertheless, the public wanted to be informed about the murderer as much as possible, to ensure their safety in Whitechapel.
Another reason for the murders attracting so much attention is that in the history of crime, there had never been a killer of the same genre as Jack the Ripper, who was a serial killer. Therefore, the whole idea of a killer, killing numerous women is quite shocking, but at the same time very interesting an appealing. As the murderer was killing only women, who were prostitutes this added a sexual element to the murderers, which consequently made the prostitutes of Whitechapel extremely susceptible.
There were some 1,200 prostitutes in Whitechapel alone, so prostitutes were very vulnerable at that time. They were undoubtedly scared so therefore they constantly checked the status of the case, to see if he had been caught yet. On the other end of society, the rich were scared because they mostly feared why they were not being targeted for their money.
Most probably, the major factor affecting the attention of the murderers was the press and media. They covered the stories from the start. The newspaper articles were widely available due to the new transport network, which had been created in Britain. People gradually started to become more interested in newspapers, especially as they were filled with gory details about how he slashed and sliced the women's throats " The stomach and abdomen had been ripped out". The press would often dramatise the scenes just to make them sound amazingly detailed and interesting, and to sell more copies, consequently making more money. London journalists cared very little about the truth; they would create a panicky atmosphere and feeling around London, especially Whitechapel. As in most towns around that time, the poor wanted information about the murders, but unfortunately, they could not read. However, the press resolved this issue by printing detailed illustrations, but by solving one problem, they created another. The problem was that the pictures were clearly biased and they included racist details. Many of the illustrations portrayed the Ripper with a big nose, which insinuated he was Jewish. In addition, there was more controversy created by the fact that the majority of the witness's statements implied how the Ripper was foreign, so the public pointed the finger at the Jewish community .Others showed the Ripper in doctors clothing, which resulted in attacks on doctors. Veterinarians and butchers also endured attacks because of the newspapers drawing the Ripper with a bloodstained apron.
Things undeniably increased for the worse as soon as the press began to receive hundreds of letters from random people self-proclaiming themselves as the Whitechapel murderer. Nevertheless, they were positive that the majority of these letters were hoaxes just to annoy them, but even today, people believe that there was one letter, which may have actually been from the Ripper himself. When the press received this letter, they treated as a hoax consequently not sending it to the police for a couple days. But the night after the police receiving the letter Elizabeth Stride and Kate Eddowes were brutally murdered. This proved to be a valuable mistake because this was one of the only good chances of catching the murderer in the act.
In November 1888, the panic was escalating due to the increase in notorious murders from the Ripper, by now the murders were appearing in the newspapers on an international basis. Today looking at the press coverage of the murders, they hindered the police in catching the Ripper for many reasons such as their inability to communicate properly with the police and there exaggeration of the murders, which scared the public, who may of had details of the Ripper.
Prostitution is one of the oldest professions in the world, but why was it that all the Rippers unfortunate victims were women and prostitutes? Well this obviously added a sexual element to the case, which obviously intrigued many people. He probably attacked these types of women because they were vulnerable especially in the misty, smoggy streets.
The nature of the murders was unpredictable. The Ripper's murders were quick , clever and determined. This is evident from the fact that no one was able to catch him in the act because he always managed to disappear from the scene. Or most probably he could have still been at or around the scene at the time but he probably just blended in with all the other shocked members of the public. The nature of the crimes caused utter panic around Whitechapel.
All these factors attracted so much attention in 1888 because they all have certain significance to the crime. The victims were all women, not just women, but prostitutes. Therefore, the atmosphere round the streets of Whitechapel, where they carried out their profession was scary. In addition, the fact that the Ripper was not attacking the rich obviously for their women was puzzling to everyone especially the police. Finally, the murders attracted attention was because the murders were somewhat abnormal for the period in time as there had never been such murders as gruesome and as purposefully as they were ever before them.
