Stalking Jack the Ripper

Bethlem Royal Hospital, known (tellingly) as Bedlam, introduces a new Gothic setting and set of themes: “Rumors of Bedlam being haunted by monsters were true. At least, they felt real enough as we moved swiftly down cold stone corridors” (169). In the Victorian era, those who committed crimes, particularly people from the lower classes, were considered “criminally insane.” Criminality itself was considered a mental and moral illness for which there was no cure, hence the conflation of criminality, “insanity,” and monstrosity. The 1886 Scottish novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is a prime example of the trope of the mild-mannered intellectual (just like Uncle Jonathan) who contains a wild, murderous side he cannot control. By placing Uncle Jonathan in Bedlam, where Audrey walks past the cells of “criminals and the insane” (169), Maniscalco alludes to the connection between Audrey’s uncle and the other inmates.

Uncle Jonathan is further presented as a potential suspect through his arrest. Murder weapons and pieces of evidence are found in his laboratory. Although Audrey is convinced of his innocence, even she cannot understand why he has these items, which invites the reader to consider Uncle Jonathan as a suspect. Further red herrings about Thomas are also planted in these chapters. The reader’s suspicion that he may be the murderer is echoed in Audrey’s choice to covertly follow him. Thomas is somewhat cleared of suspicion when his true motivation is revealed, however, he remains a suspect in the eyes of the reader.

Clues about Nathaniel—the actual murderer—are more subtle. When Superintendent Blackburn arrives at the circus unexpectedly, Nathaniel “sat stock-still” (160). His stress in this moment is evident in this posture, but the source of his stress is not revealed. Because Blackburn’s arrival shocks everyone, Nathaniel’s reaction is not out of place, and for the time being, he is able to hide his guilt.

Audrey and Thomas’s flirtation continues though not in the ordinary manner of Victorian romances. Maniscalco subverts genre tropes here by having the pair fall in love over the autopsy table rather than in the drawing room. Their love of science and anatomy brings them together, illustrated when Audrey begins to extract the gallbladder from the cadaver: “[W[ithout hesitation, I split the skin wide with my blade, earning an appreciative whistle from Thomas” (187).

Aunt Amelia continues as a symbol for socially dictated femininity and decorum; “Aunt Amelia was the embodiment of what all proper young ladies should aspire to” (141). She is a foil to Audrey’s high-spirited rebelliousness, and as a result, the two often clash. She presents needlework as the epitome of what should interest a refined young lady, whereas Audrey’s actual interest—forensics and human anatomy—represent the horrific realities that should be kept away from young upper-class women.

Audrey is a complex character in that she does not fit perfectly into a single box: she finds that her time engaged in needlework assists her in sewing up cadavers and that her time working on cadavers assists her in her needlework. Similarly, while she works in the male-dominated realms of the sciences and crime-solving, Audrey wants to maintain her femininity. Liza tells her, “[T]here’s no reason you can’t wear a simple frock to work, then don the finest gown and dance the night away. But only if it pleases you” (144). At times, Audrey struggles with her interest in gowns and more traditionally feminine things, feeling that it contradicts her interest in science. Liza helps her to resolve this moment of cognitive dissonance; Audrey feels that she can cut up cadavers and also look stunning and seductive in a beautiful gown.