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Abstract

This dissertation examines the sensationalised portrayal of female gangsters in the English press. The 1920s was a decade of social unrest and political hostility that contributed to contemporary anxieties surrounding post-war criminality in London. The decade built upon concerns over class and space that were solidified in the late Victorian period by figures such as Charles Booth. Gender equally faced scrutiny due to the rise of the women’s suffrage movement that threatened prominent patriarchal ideologies such as ‘the angel in the house.’ This led to the representation of working-class female criminality to be sensational in nature, ranging from monstrous to glamorous in order to identify criminal women who broke from the mould of the ‘respectable’ woman.
By examining court records, which show their offences, this dissertation will recognise that the government used harsh sentencing in order to control female gangsters. The Forty Elephants gang found themselves at the centre of press focus due to their criminal presence in both the public and private spheres. Most importantly, this dissertation will argue that the gang’s origin in South-East London and their expansion within the metropole proved a threat to upper-class territories; and will thus conclude that the women of the Forty Elephants gained a sensationalised representation in the press due to their ability to defy the boundaries of their class and gender within the capital.

Course: History - BA (Hons) - C1087

Date Deposited: 2020-09-21

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13543.html