Jack the Ripper vs. the Gilded Age

The push to industrialization, and thus to a modern world, caused many to become fearful. Fearful of the unknown and unpredictable future, which we see reflected in the graphic novel: From Hell. From the over the top cover up scheme by the Queen to the absurd Gull killings, social excess is a recurrent theme that Alan Moore ties in with the social concerns of the 1890s.

Excess means to surpass proper or specified limits, to over indulge. This was shown throughout From Hell, but no one demonstrated this better than the Queen. Queen Victoria goes to such lengths to protect the crown from being tainted by indecency that she utterly disregards the repercussions of her actions and stops at nothing to obtain discretion. She justifies each action with the need to ensure the credibility of the crown.

The actions of the industrial companies of the 1890s could be easily equated with those of the Queen. Companies like the Standard Oil Company used any means- bribery, connections to politicians, etc- to stop employee protest and gain back hard labor in order to continue receiving profits. The excess lies in the entrepreneurs who decided to pay their workers lower than is reasonable and in the American Dream that promotes such thinking. Industrialization brought about this kind of ideas and it soon became the norm. People became no longer content with living peacefully and within their means; Entrepreneurs we're no longer content with training a few workers and owning a small shop. Rather, society began thinking more along the lines of 'how can I obtain more'? More. That was always strived for with the 'American Dream' motto at its tail.

Queen Victoria instructs William Gull to get rid of the prostitutes who threaten the crown, but what she doesn't know is Gull's has his own motives. The Queen ultimately caused fear and unrest in the people of the UK. The same could be said of the reaction of the people of the 1890s about the transition to a modern society. New inventions and new ways of conducting service left lots people confused and unsure of the fuure as it got more and more out of their hands. Increasing populations in cities caused many to retreat to the suburbs because of lack of morals, sanitation and safety.

The gilded age was basically era of excess because none of our modern society is based on need, more on profit and competition. This was what many people feared because society was ever changing, and so fast, that left people wondering what was in store for the future.

Jack the Ripper's Society

In the society that bred Jack the Ripper, urbanized cities like London were often overcrowded, and this led to many societal problems such as prostitution, which is one of the largest issues in the story. Since most people were poor in the time period, women often resorted to prostitution to supplement income to the family. It was a new ideology, and it radically changed the view of women of the time. One of the biggest social issues was women trying to change their views and gain a little more power, causing the main conflict of the story. The woman Annie took power in the beginning by having a royal child, which caused a lot of problems on its own. The main act of feminine power, however, came when four prostitutes decided to blackmail the queen, a dangerous act for anyone, especially women. Something like this was incredibly brass, and was unheard of. It showed the dangerous side of women trying to get more power as well, and ultimately led to a masculine sign of aggression, killing the group. The common people were desperate, as this shows. they were often mixed up in crime, and many were doing illegal acts. Besides women selling themselves in prostitution, the men were eager to act as customers. Since William was able to lure some of the women to him, it showed that even the upper class engaged in prostitution.

Jack The Ripper and The Societal Excess

The story of jack the Ripper reflects concerns about societal excess in the gilded age in many ways. It showed the situation in London which is an urbanized city. The societal excess means more people living in the same place. So, job opportunities were reduced and it was hard for a person to find a job like immigrants and women. numbers of people with low income or without a job grew up which means that more people are not going to find jobs and will chose the to commit crime.

Many people moved to urbanized cities like London and New York to seek better income and better life condition. However, a lot of the people who moved to urbanized cities didn’t get paid enough and were segregated based on their economic status. To survive in these hard conditions, they had to commit robbery, which usually led to murder. Crimes used to happen in places where low class people lived. They didn’t have much police force as in the areas with high class people. Some of the victims of these crimes used to be from the higher class people. As the number of new comers to cities grew up, the number of crimes grew up because poverty levels rose up.

Another concern about the societal excess was women who were from the lower class. Many of the women in the gilded age began to seek job outside of their houses. To do that they had to move to cities that offered job opportunities for them. They were usually young and they also travelled alone. Women did not get paid well either. Thus, there were a big number of women who chose the road of prostitution to ensure their living. They were considered from the lower class. The governments were not happy with their acts and did not care that much if they got robbed or murdered. The police force did not care that much for them either and did not do deep investigations to find the criminal. This led to the appearance of more crimes because criminals knew that they could get away with it.

Society's Excess: Time and Money

The story of Jack the Ripper truly reflects the excess that is found in society during the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age can be characterized by the mechanization of society. The mechanization of society gave birth a cultural based around consumerism. People during the Gilded Age became more and more concerned with materialistic things. The mechanization of society gave way to this because people had more leisure time, which allowed for them to consume more. The consumption of more goods was also made possible by mechanization because goods were affordable to the middle class. Middle class society during the Gilded Age was flourishing.

One of the main problems with the mechanization of society was not the actual idea of society furthering itself technologically, but the rate at which society was mechanizing. During the Gilded Age it was almost as if mechanization occurred over night. Society was not prepared to mechanize at the rate at which it did because mechanization caused major economic stratification of classes. Not only was economic stratification a problem, but also in general there was a lot of tension between classes in general.

The class tension that was created by the mechanization of society was further aided by the results of mechanization, which was a consumer culture and general idea of looking down upon those of who had less material things. The class tension during the Gilded Age was most obviously present in the story of Jack the Ripper. The murders all took place in white chapel, which was a neighborhood commonly associated with lower class society. The people living in that neighborhood were looked down and did not have the means to spend any money on materialistic items, even if they wanted to. In From Hell it is especially telling that one of the ways Jack the Ripper lured in the girls that he killed was by giving them elegant goods, like a new hat. The women clearly were interested in the goods, further supporting the idea that the Gilded Age is associated with excess within society.

The women that were murdered were also all prostitutes, which is one of the main reasons many people from the areas surrounding white chapel did not take an interest in their murders as being important. The lack of interest in their murders further shows the social tension that was evident between classes during the Gilded Age. Their lower class was easily distinguishable during the Gilded Age more than in the past because of the lack of material items that they had. I find it also interesting that all of the women that were murdered were prostitutes and how many prostitutes were written about in From Hell. It appears that their were extremely high numbers of prostitutes in the Gilded Age, which also shows evidence for the Gilded Age’s society obsession of living in excess.

The Gilded Age can be characterized by people living in excess. The reason people were able to live in excess was because they had the money and time to do so, which was in part a result of mechanization. The mechanization of society was a direct cause of social tensions.

Societal Excess in the 1890s

In From Hell, Moore and Campbell provide a presumably accurate commentary on the dangers of societal excess during the Gilded Age. Though details about Jack the Ripper remain unattained, the story of the Whitechapel murders have proven historically relevant to the growing class disparity and lack of concern for the well being of others that was common during the Gilded Age. While the industrial and economic boom of the 1890s appeared beneficial, beneath the surface the societal excess of the time proved detrimental to the development of the lower class.

During the 1890s, both the United States and Europe experienced a rapid economic growth due to improvements in technology and industry. While these improvements greatly benefitted big businesses and the upper class that owned and operated them, the lower class experienced a steady decline in quality of life. Members of the lower class were forced to work the difficult jobs that made industrialization possible, while making little money and living in poor conditions. Though they enabled the rich to live comfortably, members of the lower class were unable to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Being surrounded by societal excess while lacking ability to enjoy it drove members of the lower class to desperate measures. For example, many women were driven into prostitution to support themselves or their families. Furthermore, men became alcoholics to escape the trappings of a lower class existence. Such activities often subjected lower class individuals to a certain amount of danger. Self-endangering activities coupled with run-down living conditions often subjected the lower class to violent crimes. Illustrated through the actions of Jack the Ripper, From Hell portrays how members of the lower class were killed without cause and without repercussions for the killer. Members of the upper class were not concerned with deaths in the lower class, so crimes often went unsolved. Though this tragic pattern continued on for decades, the injustices against the lower class eventually caused them to fight for equality.

From Hell portrays the gruesome tale of Jack the Ripper, a fictional character based on the real murders in Whitechapel. Although the setting is different, From Hell accurately interprets the consequences of class disparity caused by societal excess in the 1890s.

Jack the Ripper & social excess

Through the process of urbanization, more and more people started to move to cities, since they believed that they could get better lives in cities than rural area. However, most of them thought wrong. Huge amount of people came to cities and worked in factories, and lived as low class in the society. Gilded Age was a great time for the society if we stood on the point of view in the entire world. People created enormous amount of money; at the same time, the total production in society showed as an increasing direction. However, the gap between rich and poor was enlarging. Through the total wealth in society increased, poor were still living in terrible situations, which were even worse than ever before. They lived in crowded, high-level polluted cities and they endured the pressure of the working competition. At that time, societal excess existed in the society. If you could not afford the pressure of work in industry, several people were waiting for your position.

In that environment, part of those people suffered even worse situation than normal poor. They were low-class women. Unlike upper class women enjoyed the benefits of industrialization, low-class women lacked the advantage of working in the factories. If they wanted to live in cities, they had to find their own way to survive; for a large part of population, they chose prostitutes. Although they found a way to survive in the cities, they were still in the bottom of society.

In the story of Jack the Ripper, which was also the model of From Hell, they talked about a serial killer in both United States, and England. He killed specific women, who were mainly prostitutes. During the Gilded Age, many other people could possibly be chosen as targets, but killer just locked at women. On one hand, low-class women were the weak group at that time; on another hand, it also showed the excess of population in the cities. People could create wonderful lives in rural area, but they gave up those opportunities. Choosing to come to cities, they lost their land, peaceful lives, and came to cities just for living in dreadful conditions. 

The Gilded Age and Jack the Ripper

The industrial and social progress brought about by the Gilded Age caused heavy anxiety as it bulldozed its way through the 1880s and 90s. Ways of life, social classes, rights, and order considered the norm were rapidly being challenged, and few people knew how to react towards this rapid change with anything other than worry and fear. There gradually became less of a focus on the routine, rural, working-man and housewife ideals and more of an awareness of a larger, overshadowing entity pulling the strings – in this case, the cities – that severed these traditional ideals and dragged these individuals into a new order. This helpless feeling (of not changing the course of social development no matter how much influence one thinks they have) is shared in From Hell specifically. As there is no stopping the industrial growth and overpowering influence of the upcoming cities, there was no stopping the murders. They are “predestined,” so to speak, further fueling the aforementioned anxiety.

Changes in social classes were also paralelled. With the growth of these cities came more jobs, and more variation in jobs, and consequently created a brand new class – the middle class. The middle class did not necessarily filled a void between the rich and poor; rather, this new class left the poor with only the worst of the worst jobs, only furthering the gap between the rich and poor. With the emergence of these nearly super poor, coupled with terrible living conditions and crowded cities, the poor needed to seek income elsewhere, crossing into socially “grey” areas, including crime and prostitution. Needless to say, these slummy communities snowballed in dissatisfaction, and these individuals were treated almost as subhuman in terms of rights and laws. This was discussed in From Hell in that the murdered women – prostitues, from Whitechapel, were less likely to be sought out or deeply investigated by the police due to their low social positions – and it was so.

Finally, women experienced drastic change during the Gilded Age. As mentioned, lower class women would become prostitutes in order to make some sort of living, which was stark contrast between the traditional woman and the “new” woman. The traditional woman was supposed to be pure, Christian, and clean. Prostitution was, of course, socially frowned upon, and challenged everything the traditional woman stood for. While not all new women had become prostitutes, this was a small glimpse into the independence women sought in the 1890s. This independent woman likewise caused anxiety, as it was so entirely different from tradition, and this transformation from tradition into the raunchy industrial life was more than needed to terrify onlookers. All in all, the largest, broadest correspondence between the Gilded Age transformations and events of From Hell was this transformation from tradition into the unknown future, and the fear that shadowed it infinitely.

Jack the Ripper & The Gilded Age

Reading about Jack the Ripper definitely brought out some very important aspects of the Gilded Age. During the Gilded Age people were beginning to realize how much the nation was actually changing. With the emergence of big business and new modes of transportation, people had to adapt to a whole new life. This fear of mechanization goes hand in hand with the fear that spread from Jack the Ripper. Constantly people were thinking what will happen next? Which relates perfectly to Jack the Rippers many killings. They had a fear that all this new technology would change the society they knew, and one of these changes was the first serial killer.

Another problem happening in London as was happening in the U.S. was the problem of overcrowding. It was very hard to find a place in such a congested area and so people were trying to find a place to live anywhere they could. This caused tension in cities and an overly competitive atmosphere. People were desperate for jobs and living, so by any means necessary they had to find a way to get what they wanted.

Another aspect of Jack the Ripper that relates to the Gilded Age is directed at whom he murdered. Jack the Ripper focused his attention on poor women/prostitutes. These were very easy targets because they were vulnerable, and he knew the police would hardly even look at their cases. Because these women were seen as outcasts, society and the police department treated them as such. Jack the Ripper targeted them because he knew no one would care, just like the people in the Gilded Age. Because of the poverty and overcrowding, women sometimes had no other choice then to be prostitutes. Because of what they had to do for their families they were sitting duck targets for Jack the Ripper and other men that could abuse them.

A Fall to Immorality Depicted in From Hell Reflecting a Trend in the Concerns of the Guilded Age

In the graphic novel "From Hell" the author touches on many of the key concerns during the Guilded Age about societal excesses such as corruption and rising crime rates in cities, obvious class differences, and a change in women's role in society. The loose moral behavior emblematic of the 1890's is clearly reflected as a theme in this graphic novel depicting the story of Jack the Ripper.

Jack the Ripper himself is the embodiment of the people's concerns of crime and uncertainty for the future. The fact that a man would kill, without seeming method or meaning terrified people because of the looming uncertainty and threat. Also, the story of Jack the Ripper fostered the fear that cities were becoming the sources of corruption and immorality. Immorality, above everything, shone through as the message of what the society had come to accept in Guilded Age. This story emphasizes also the now commonly accepted idea that cities were places where crime was set– a chicken or the egg scenario– did cities create the criminals or do criminals prefer city settings.

This story also touches largely on the distinctive class differences– and the immorality set within the chasm between the upper and lower lasses. The vast wealth difference– as illustrated in "From Hell" – lead to a seemingly justifiable reasoning to see people as less or more valuable individually. This ability for the upper class to see themselves as a cut above the rest allows for crime and corruption to carry-on without much correction or even a need to solve the problems because the upper class, with the ability to create change, was unaffected by the problems of the poor. This is a concern of societal excesses seen in the Guilded Age because of the unequal distribution of wealth, morality was done away with. the rich felt less towards their fellow human beings, and the poor did away with morals inorder to survive. The graphic novel also shows an increased reliance of the poor on alcohol and sex, whereas the rich depended more on money and stability.

The last main evidence of "From Hell" reflecting the concerns of the Guilded Age, was the evolving role of women in society. Women had– in the lower classes– become more morally flexible in order to support themselves and their families. Also the slight fear that women would be gaining more power socially was emphasized– fueled by the new clamoring for rights in the Guilded Age. With women having to abandon in some ways the domestic role to fend for themselves in the city, men were becoming alarmed to these changes in perception. In this graphic novel, women were portrayed as independent and to a limited degree in charge of their independent lives. Before the Guilded Age women were supposed to be the morally superior influence on future generations. This role was completely abandoned in the story about Jack the Ripper.

Jack The Ripper in the Gilded Age AND Secondary Source

While Jack the Ripper presents a darker, more violent side of like in the 1890s (before and after), the story coincides with Gilded Age concerns about societal excess and in some way societal excess is to be blamed for the violent and unruly side of certain parts of society in the 1890s. This is because during this time in England, there is a massive population of native British people as well as immigrants and people from the neighboring countries. The city itself is a large city with a lot of infrastructure by means of factories and large building that house the masses of people. Social class also reflects a societal excess ion that there is an elite class, a middle class and a poor class, but the middle and poor class make up a larger percentage of the population. With these two examples of societal excess, they go on to create the problems societal excess harbors. That is crime, underemployment, disease and in even worse, like with Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper is the a serial killer like figure who murdered multiple women in London. As From Hell explains, he was one of the best doctors in London and the Queen's surgeon who obviously had some mental issues which got worse once he was given the job of getting rid of 4 prostitutes who were attempting to blackmail the prince. The main issues of Jack the Ripper which are the same as issues in the 1890s are the fact that the poor working population was so huge that most women turned to prostitution as a way to make their living, but barely get by. Life for these people was very difficult and for the most part, they drank which made things even worse for them. In the 1890s this same problem occurred because of all the people crammed into tiny living spaces in cities and with women prostituting and even men engaging in sexual activities with other men, this also spread diseases. Crime was a huge problem because the people who didn't have anything turned to stealing because that's all they could do to get by. Homicide also occurred more often than today because of influences like alcohol as well as people stealing and in this case the murdering of prostitutes. While these problems occurred in the story and England, the same problems were occurring in the United States and in some ways even more so because of the ethnic differences in the big cities. Crime occurred in much the same ways and the cities were overpopulated as in London. Overall Jack the Ripper is an example of the sort of things that went on the 1890s, but to a more violent extreme. The rise in population and underemployment lead to crime and other societal problems which were going on in the story as well as in real 1890s life.

http://archives.rollins.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/wpandcfl&CISOPTR=783&CISOBOX=1&REC=6

This is a picture of the Seminole Hotel in Winter Park, FL. This photo and others found in the Rollins Digital Archives are one of my secondary sources in that photos of actual historical sites like this give me more of an idea what the buildings really looked like and are a visual instead of just reading about them. I will be able to use this photo and other in the archive to add visuals to my research paper so a better picture can be drawn for the reader who is reading about the different historical sites I will be discussing. This specific picture is the Seminole Hotel which was built around the 1890s so it is in the time frame and is a good representation of what the buildings of that age looked like.

Jack The Ripper-Gilded Age

The story of Jack the Ripper certainly reflects the Gilded Age concern of societal excess. While the 1880’s brought many industrial advances to America, it also brought major problems regarding employment and crime. The story of Jack the Ripper in London represented some of these issues, as detailed accounts of murder and prostitution are displayed to the reader. Immigration led to the need for crime and prostitution because there simply wasn’t enough jobs available. As new citizens arrived to make livings, they soon found that millions were in the same boat. When it came down to putting food on the table for their families, some men turned to robbery and and some women turned to prostitution. Although outlawed at the time, prostitution was soon accepted more into society as the need was more understood.

As major cities such as London suffered from massive cases of over-population, living conditions also grew worse. People were crammed into smaller spaces, food was scarce, and hygiene was becoming a luxury. Society also witnessed a stronger dependence on alcohol. Alcohol became a reason for many crimes, as it altered the decision-making abilities of stubborn and unsatisfied citizens. This situation of crime and poverty further widened the social gaps. As many wealthy people thrived from developing economies, unemployed people strayed from society. They were misunderstood by the middle and upper class because they were considered dirty and not as good as the wealthy and employed class.

Although this was London, it reflected American cities as well. America had over-population conflicts as immigrants came from all over the world to find work. Over-crowded places led to crime, prostitution, and homeless/hungry people. Jack The Ripper seems to be against this trend in the graphic novel we read in class. He kills those who he thinks are living unbeneficial lives to society. Although newspapers get involved, coining the name for him, he isn’t pursued as much by the justice system because he’s murdering lower class people. The story of Jack the Ripper reflects the issues of over-population and crime in the Gilded Age because it highlights who he is murdering and why he murders them. This all occurs in a much flawed society.

Jack the Ripper and the Gilded Age

The story of Jack the Ripper reflects what was happening during the Gilded Age in various aspects, especially when it came to the concerns regarding societal excess. The Gilded Age was a time when technology was starting to improve in huge quantities. During the Gilded Age, society was becoming a consuming nation and that started to concern many people. People were now able to live in different ways and spread out due to the advancements in technology such as transportation and building types (architecture). The rapid change during the Gilded Age worried many people and they believed that their society was going to take a downturn and that is how many people felt was happening to their society during the murders by Jack the Ripper. The difference in the way that people were living exemplified the difference among social classes.

The time that Jack the Ripper existed also had a very clear difference between people of various social classes. Many of the murders that happened were not paid attention because the women were of a lower class. During both time periods, crime and corruption broke out among the different social classes; Jack the Ripper was more intense with all of his murders and during the Gilded Age their were many violent acts and crime done out of jealousy and tension between the social classes and also because of some of the places people were being raised (crowded and dirty areas that made it easy for people to become corrupt in order to adapt to their environment).

In addition, excess came in the form of women beginning to seek work outside of the home to supplement their husband’s lacking income or to add to their family income they already had. From Hell shows many women seeking prostitution in order to make that extra amount of money and during the Gilded Age many women looked for work and in some cases had no other choice but prostitution.

Overall, many of the themes and key points made throughout From Hell were mirror references to what was going on during the Gilded Age in reality.

"Jack the Ripper" reflecting concerns of societal excess

The story of “Jack the Ripper” reflects Gilded Age concerns about societal excess because as “Jack the Ripper” causes order to fall apart because of his murderous actions, similarly, society in the Gilded Age felt that order was dissolving as excessive “new” ways of life evolved. The story explores the social worlds of London and the ideas expressed apply to the Gilded Age in America of which our class focuses. To explain, the Gilded Age in part dealt with concerns over technological changes which produced items quicker and less costly; people began to spend their limited resources in excess. Living beyond one’s means began in the Gilded Age era.
Uncertainty was felt by people living in the Gilded Age when “the new” changes occurring in their society were transforming their past ways. Some new technological changes that occurred in society were electricity in the home, the motion picture, telephone, and machines that could record sound. These technological items bred anxiety because they were very complex and to the average Gilded Age American, transcended intelligence. Before the existence of these items and others like them, most people understood the workings of the technology they used in their daily lives. As a result, people felt that these new technologies were “extras” and unnecessary because they had lived life without them in the past.
The story of “Jack the Ripper” in From Hell discusses a 4th Dimension where time remains on a constant continuum. For example, the murderer has a vision into the future where he sees a skyscraper. This is significant because it is an example of a change in the city skyline during the Gilded Age and it made people of that era feel small and insignificant in some ways. This industrial feat reflects societal excess because it was a demonstration of America’s power which was in many eyes, a good thing, but, some felt that it was a change of something “extra” that society did not really need…
The crimes that occurred in the story of “Jack the Ripper” mirrored the existence of crimes that took place in Gilded Age America. These crimes were due to societal excess on occasion. For example, murder may be a crime example that’s a bit extreme, nevertheless, people acted violently toward one another over jealousy due to social class standing. Working-class poor participated in uprisings against upper-class people of the Gilded Age because the poor viewed the numerous possessions of the wealthy as “excess.” The poor saw wealthier people living comfortable lives free of day-to-day concerns and became infuriated that they could not live similar lifestyles; they acted out in crimes against the privileged.
Jack the Ripper’s murder plot in some ways mirrors a foreign policy situation that occurred during the Gilded Age. American imperialism in the Philippines involved death and destruction as does the story of “Jack the Ripper.” Deaths among the natives and American soldiers occurred in this conflict. Some may view this imperialist action of America’s during the Gilded Age as an action of “excess” because it was not particularly necessary for America to acquire the Philippines; it was more a strategy for easier access, “taking the easy way out” so to speak.

Jack the Ripper and Gilded Age concerns about society excess

The story of Jack the Ripper reflects the concerns about society excess in the Gilded age because it points out in a fictional story that Whitechapel, London is overpopulated and people are having trouble finding jobs. In From Hell prostitution is brought up because Jack the Ripper murdered a prostitute. In the Gilded Age prostitution was a big problem because of overpopulation. More and more immigrants came to the United States during the Gilded Age and after a while jobs were harder to find. Even though From Hell was took place in London and not the U.S, it still gave the same point of over population. This caused women to resort to prostitution. In order to live or buy food women had to sell their bodies. Jack the Ripper murdered a prostitute and it was not a huge deal because of social classes and the lower class people were not as important as the upper class people. Which also leads to another conflict during the Gilded Age that was the upper class abused their power.

In From Hell the audience found out at the end of the story that Jack the Ripper was murdering these prostituted for the crown. He was protected under the orders of the royalty. This symbolizes the major differences between classes in the Gilded Age. Upper class people wanted to get rid of the lower class because of general assumptions of lower class people are dirty, lazy people. Upper class people figured that lower class people are poor because they are not as motivated as upper class people and that is why they do not have good jobs. Rich and powerful people do not want poor people around. Without them around that gives the rich more space to build houses and more money to make.

Over crowding of immigrants in the United States causing people to resort to unethical jobs to survive and the favoritism of the upper class during the Gilded age was shown in the story From Hell and that is what the murders of the prostitutes by Jack the Ripper symbolized.