The Netflix series, starring Ella Beatty, depicts the alleged axe murderer as suffering from various ailments
Credit: Suzanne Tenner/Netflix
NEED TO KNOW
- Lizzie Borden, the alleged axe murderer who was accused of killing her father and stepmother in 1892, is the subject of Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
- Lizzie is portrayed in Monster as having many health issues
- Her health problems were largely fictionalized in the series, which premiered on Sept. 17
Lizzie Borden suffers from several health issues in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.
The Netflix series — which stars Ella Beatty and premiered on Sept. 17 — was inspired by the woman who was accused and acquitted of her father and stepmother’s brutal axe murders at their Fall River, Mass., home in 1892.
Throughout the series, Lizzie experiences extreme pain from periods and a supposedly imperforate hymen. Her ailments are largely fictionalized, but the series includes a true detail about her health treatment and leaves out the ailments she experienced later in life.
Here’s what’s fact and fiction regarding Lizzie Borden’s health issues in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.
There’s no evidence Lizzie suffered from abnormal menstruation
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
Lizzie experiences extreme periods in Monster, which cause her immense pain. She also bleeds heavily, even staining her stepmother Abby’s heirloom white upholstered sofa.
In real life, no evidence indicates that Lizzie experienced painful periods. However, Lizzie did mention her periods to the police following the murders of Andrew and Abby. Authorities found bloody cloths in a bucket in the basement, according to CBS News, which Lizzie claimed she used for hygienic reasons as she was menstruating at the time. Her period timing was confirmed by the family’s doctor, so investigators did not further analyze the rags.
Lizzie’s imperforate hymen in Monster was completely made up
In Monster, the Borden family’s maid Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan grows close with Lizzie. As she tries to help ease Lizzie’s pain, she determines Lizzie is suffering from an imperforate hymen. The rare condition is when the hymen blocks the opening to the vagina, according to the Cleveland Clinic. It can cause painful symptoms, but it can also prevent periods.
In real life, nothing substantiates that Lizzie was diagnosed with this. This detail was made up for the series.
She was prescribed morphine by her physician following her parents’ murders
Credit: Bettmann/Getty
Following Andrew and Abby’s deaths in Monster, Lizzie becomes performatively hysterical. She’s then given morphine by a doctor to calm her down.
In real life, Lizzie’s doctor did state that he gave her morphine following the murders, per Britannica.
This detail helped deem Lizzie’s first interviews with police inadmissible in court, along with the facts that she was prevented from having counsel present and wasn’t warned that her statements could be incriminating. In those interviews, she gave contradictory accounts of her whereabouts during the murders, per The New York Times.
She underwent gallbladder surgery before her death
Rather than following Lizzie’s story through to the end of her life, Monster wraps up her tale several years before she died. The series fictionalizes where she leaves off: at the new home she bought using her inheritance, where she lives with her partner, Bridget. The couple are also seen helping pass the 19th Amendment.
Later in life, Lizzie experienced other health issues the show omitted completely. Before her death on June 1, 1927, she underwent a surgery to remove her gallbladder. She later died at home at age 66.
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