Some Reflections on The Limehouse Golem

The Limehouse Golem is considered as a kind of representation of London in the

Victorian period, and is an excellent film that portrays a horror-mystery story. The plot is
mainly depicted by using many flashbacks to convey the movie. The film is mostly close to
interpretation until we see the end of it. As it ends shockingly, it creates much tension in the
audiences’ mind. In the film, it is important to note that the film aims to delineate the place of
women and the rejection of women’s individuality in the nineteenth century. In this paper, I
aim to discuss the portrayal of a female criminal, and how the social norms of Victorian
period react to the crimes shown in The Limehouse Golem.

First of all, women portrayed in The Limehouse Golem are generally prostitutes.
Women were not perceived as the ones who equal rights as men. They were merely depicted
as objects to men. In the film, we see that the streets of London are full of females waiting for
men to come to have sexual intercourse. This could be thought as a representation of English
poor women’s lives. Those people strive for a better life, but they are made to believe that
prostitution is their destiny. In this sense, the movie dramatically pictures the doctrines of
Victorian period.

Secondly, I completely believe that women were not seen as individuals in the
Victorian doctrines. Even though England was ruled by the Queen Victoria, the individuality
of women in the society was not thought as an ideal belief. The Limehouse Golem pictures the
idea of disagreement of female criminals. In the film, the main character is accused of tainting
her husband who is guilty of many crimes. While the inspector examines the case, he has
ultimate trust in Elizabeth, as all audiences like us.

To sum up, I totally think that The Limehouse Golem represents the life of London in
the late nineteenth century. Here, it clearly portrays the women’s situation in the Victorian
era. It is also important that the women were not accepted as individuals in the mindset of the
people at that time. Since the film depicts the portrayal of women openly, it should be
considered as an important movie which depicts the disagreement of women’s individuality in
the nineteenth century.

Work Cited

The Limehouse Golem. Directed by Juan Carlos Medina, performances by Bill Nighy, Olivia
Cooke, and Douglas Booth, Lionsgate, 2016.