Essay On Jack The Ripper V. Stapleton

Between the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, a new genre emerged into mainstream literature: mystery, and with it rose two malicious murderers, one fictitious and the other regrettably real. Stapleton, the vengeful antagonist of The Hounds of the Baskervilles by Sir Conan Doyle, and Jack the Ripper, a real-life serial killer whose story swept Victorian Era England, have many similarities as well as many differences including their time period, motives, and the manner in which they slaughtered their victims. The two malevolent murderers share a time period, and as an effect, their social climate. As Jack the Ripper’s crimes were introduced to the public by the media, the general public became obsessed with his gruesome tales. Mystery authors such as Sir Conan Doyle preyed on this new interest and
Holmes discovers that Stapleton was third in line for the Baskerville fortune in the final chapter. (234) Holmes ponders that perhaps, “Stapleton did not know of the existence of an heir in Canada.” (238) The murder of Sir Charles and the attempted murder of Sir Henry were both executed by Stapleton in the hopes of inheriting the family estate. In contrast, Jack the Ripper’s motive has been speculated to be a “war on sin” (Jones, Jack The Ripper Student Resource), an attempt for social reform (Burns, Rippermania: Fear and Fascination in Victorian London), and even that he killed due to a mental disorder such as psychopathy of sociopathy (Cobb, Psychoanalysis of the Ripper). Jack the Ripper’s prospective motives, although uncertain, are unrelated to those of Stapleton. One possible explanation for this variation is the type of killer. Stapleton only kills when he needs to, but Jack the Ripper, a serial killer, killed for pleasure. Not only are their purposes vastly different, their methods also differ