Abstract

SEDEU, Ricardo de Lima. From hell to the couch: a psychoanalytic approach to "Jack the Ripper" as presented in the film From Hell. Cogito [online]. 2013, vol.14, pp. 76-85. ISSN 1519-9479.

In this paper, we analyze, from the psychoanalytic viewpoint, the case “Jack the Ripper” as described in the movie From Hell (2001). After some comments on the concepts of serial killer (forensic psychology) and psychopathy (psychiatry), we present a psychopathological approach proposed by Jean Bergeret, author who classifies the majority of cases of psychopathy within borderline conditions. Then, a psychoanalytic analysis is made of the character who commits the crimes in the movie, showing the gradual worsening of his pathology.

Keywords : psychoanalysis; cinema; Jack the Ripper; serial killer; psychopathy; borderline conditions.

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