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Description
The real life murders of Jack the Ripper inspired my idea for a screenplay and adaptation for a miniseries. I examined the suspects, victims, and case studies to successfully solve the problem of weaving fact and fiction to create strong characters. The results allowed me to achieve my goal to write a compelling and believable story. Characters and events emerged from researching the actual murders and examining Victorian society of late eighteenth-century England. Real characters and fictional characters intertwine. For example, Emily Miller, a fictional character and the heroine, is a strong-minded young woman who breaks the bond of social mores to pose as a Scotland Yard Inspector and discover the murderer. Her mentor and real life character, Freddie Abberline, is integrated with the fictional story of conspiring with Emily to get her into Scotland Yard. The fact is that Freddie Abberline was placed in charge of the Ripper murders for Scotland Yard. Real events and fictional events also intertwine. Actual case histories are used to describe the murder scenes, locations, dates, and times. Other events have been invented that relate to Victorian lifestyle, such as an Art Exhibit of a real life suspect, Walter Sickert. I also used a saloon setting as the meeting place for all of the suspects. The backdrop to the story authentically incorporates living conditions of the classes as it relates to the disparity between the suspects (upper class), victims (lower class), and upper middle class (Emily and Abberline). My research included a study of film and television productions about crime and murder with historical settings. I also looked at productions with a strong female heroine solving a murder mystery. More specifically, I observed how they combined fact and fiction and what was important to include as well as exclude to make a good and believable story. Regarding strong heroines, I took note of the characteristics, lifestyles, and back stories that make them compelling. Finally, the significance of writing this story emerged as it was created. The societal attitudes toward women in all classes of Victorian England reflect a collective societal problem of abuse and discrimination that still exists today around the world. My intention was to bring to life the stories of the victims, the tragedies of their murders, and to create a strong female character who attempts to save them and herself from the circumstances of their gender. In addition, the significance or my work was to write a new and exciting twist on the Jack the Ripper murders for a successful story for a screenplay and miniseries format.
