Portraits of the Dammed: Analyzing the Victims of Jack the Ripper (Unabridged‪)‬

The Canonical Five refers to the five women most commonly identified as the victims of Jack the Ripper: Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. Each of these women shared a tragic fate, becoming emblematic of the violence and desperation that characterized the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. Their stories are not just about their horrific deaths but also about the lives they led prior to their violent encounters with an unidentified killer. Understanding their backgrounds sheds light on the social conditions of the time and the myriad struggles these women faced in a society rife with poverty, mental illness, and systemic neglect.