Jack the Ripper - Why did he attract so much attention?

There are several reasons why the Ripper’s crime attracted so much attention. The main reason was the nature of the attacks. The attacks were gruesome and no one in London has seen anything like it. People grew more interested with each murder. This was because of the regular continuation of the killings and the failure of the police catching him. People grew more concerned of Jack the Ripper. Another reason was the amount of women being killed by Jack, there was no serial killer recorded before in history, so this was all new to the citizens of London. Usually murderers would target wealthy people for their money, so people found it surprising that the poor was getting attacked. Also the murders were taken place during weekend, which might mean that Jack the Ripper have a regular job. The main factor that attracted so much attention was the press.

Jack’s victim was all drunken prostitutes. They all have drinking problems which lose them money. So there only answer to get money was prostitution. This made them vulnerable and easy to kill for Jack.

The press played a big part to the reason why the murders attracted so much attention. The murders coincided with the beginning of the rise from the tabloid press. The press needed to attract new readers this means that they had to exaggerate as this sold papers. The Star August 31st 1888 wrote ‘a woman with…. her throat cut from ear to ear…the wound was about two inches wide and blood was flowing profusely…as the corpse lies in the mortuary it presents a ghastly sight.’ This made the people more curious about the whitechapel murders. There were a lot of hoax letters sent to liven up the story if it was dying down; most of these were sent by the press themselves. The people who wanted to improve conditions in poor areas of London saw the murders as the perfect opportunity to express their views because the local elections were approaching. This also caught the press’s attention. The press saw this as the perfect opportunity to produce more as the public grew more interested of the murders.

As the attack grew more violent, the press exaggerated more about the attack. The press makes Jack the Ripper sound more dangerous so that people will read their papers. Another link is between the attacks and the civil unrest. The more the murders the more civil unrest the police must prevent.

In conclusion, when all of this is taken into account it is hardly surprising that the work of Jack the Ripper attracted so much attention at the time.