Jack the Ripper's London: Myth, Reality and the Victorian Metropolis

The Ripper murders; social history of the East End; London in the late Victorian era; the representation of the killings in the media, in film and literature; the historiography of the Ripper murders.

The class aims to provide the student with an informed understanding of the social, cultural and economic context of the Whitechapel murders that occurred in the 1880s.
Assessing the wider history of Victorian London, and focusing upon the 1880s in particular, students will learn about class, poverty, wealth, religion and culture in late Victorian London. Students will also learn about the Ripper murders and their effects in the metropolis, and consider why the murders continue to exercise fascination to this day.