Rolling Stone analyzes historical inaccuracies in the Monster series about Lizzie Borden
American publication Rolling Stone analyzed how closely the series Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story corresponds to Lizzie Borden’s history. She was tried for the 1892 murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts, USA, but Borden was acquitted, and no other people were charged in the case. The publication notes that the series combines real events with fictional storylines and significantly changes the characters of historical figures.
Lizzie and her family
In the series, Lizzie Borden is portrayed as an isolated and naive young woman. However, according to Rolling Stone, she was 32 at the time of the murders: she taught at Sunday school, took a 19-week trip to Europe two years before the tragedy, and maintained active contact with friends. There is no evidence of a romantic relationship between Lizzie and the maid Bridget Sullivan, although such rumors emerged shortly after the murders.
Abby Borden, Lizzie’s stepmother, is portrayed by the series as a cruel woman who clashed with her stepdaughters. Rolling Stone writes that she was the only one in the family who called Bridget by her real name, and that there was no such open hostility between her and the Borden sisters as shown in the series. The death of the family’s pet pigeons, which the series attributes to Abby, was linked to Andrew Borden, according to information cited by the publication.
The portrayal of Emma Borden also differs from historical information. She was 42 when the murders occurred, and on that day she was visiting friends in Fairhaven. After the trial, Emma lived with Lizzie at Maplecroft, but moved out in 1905 because of disagreements, including over her sister’s circle and her friendship with actress Nance O’Neil. They did not communicate for the rest of their lives and died one week apart in 1927.
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Other storylines
The series depicts Bridget Sullivan as Lizzie’s lover and gives her a fictional criminal biography. In reality, Sullivan worked for the family for nearly three years, and after the trial she moved to Montana and married John Sullivan. Later, she said that she thought well of Lizzie but did not know who killed the Bordens.
In the series, Nance O’Neil knows Lizzie even before the trial and supposedly teaches her acting. According to Rolling Stone, they met only in 1904, when Lizzie was 44 and O’Neil was 29. Rumors of a possible romantic relationship between them were not confirmed.
Separate storylines are devoted to Elizabeth Báthory and Aileen Wuornos. Rolling Stone notes that Báthory was tried at the beginning of the 17th century on accusations of murdering hundreds of girls, but the circumstances of those accusations and the trial raise doubts. Wuornos’s story in the series is partly based on her own version of events, but there is no evidence of her obsession with the figure of Lizzie Borden.
