‘The Lust of the Savage’: Evolution, the Press, and the Whitechapel Murders

Oldridge, Darren

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‘The Lust of the Savage’: Evolution, the Press, and the Whitechapel Murders

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Oldridge, Darren (2025) ‘The Lust of the Savage’: Evolution, the Press, and the Whitechapel Murders. In: The Routledge Handbook of Jack the Ripper Studies. Routledge, London and New York, pp. 263-273. ISBN ISBN: 9781032203348 (hbk) ISBN: 9781032209531 (pbk) ISBN: 9781003266082 (ebk)

	Text (Author Upload) Darren Oldridge, The Lust of the Savage - Evolution, the Press, and the Whitechapel Murders.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (272kB) \| Request a copy
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Official URL: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.432...

Abstract

This chapter shows how media coverage of the Whitechapel murders absorbed contemporary ideas about evolution and disseminated them to a large audience. It argues that this process indicates the widespread acceptance of evolution in the late Victorian period, and its association with the idea of progress. At the same time, however, press speculations about Jack the Ripper explored some of the darker implications of the new biology: these included the threat of degeneration and the supposedly bestial qualities that lurked in humankind.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	In: Section V: Press Reaction and Public Outcry
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History
Divisions:	College of Arts, Humanities and Education > School of Humanities
Related URLs:	https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-... Publisher
Copyright Info:	© 2026 selection and editorial matter Anne-Marie Kilday, David Nash and Katherine D. Watson; individual chapters, the contributors, All rights reserved, The right of Anne-Marie Kilday, David Nash and Katherine D. Watson to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted
Depositing User:	Darren Oldridge
Date Deposited:	20 Dec 2025 20:55
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2025 20:55
URI:	https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/id/eprint/15800

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