Lizzie Borden actress reveals why show portrayed her as a lesbian, despite no real evidence

Monster: The Lizzie Borden story focuses heavily on Lizzie’s lesbian relationship with Bridget Sullivan, even though there’s no real-life evidence that she was ever in love with her maid. The actress who plays Lizzie has opened up about why they chose to include it and what the storyline really means. 

Speaking to GO Magazine, Ella Beatty explained that the lesbian relationship allows Lizzie to break free from the oppression she has been living under. Bridget shows her a new life, which gives her the drive to strive for more and ultimately, kill her parents to gain her freedom.  

“I think Bridget is a person who is completely unconfined by the societal rigid standards and oppressive weight that Lizzie has been so familiar with, and she’s someone, more than anything, who treats her with a kind of soft touch. That can be such a transformative experience to be really loved and really seen. It can really change you,” Beatty said. 

Credit: Netflix

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“Self-discovery, whatever that means for all of us, can really re-organise the chemicals of our brain and body and spirit. And I think Bridget, Maggie, Vicky’s character, changes her entire worldview and scope of her own life. Her coming into herself as a woman and as a sexual person and as a person in the world, frankly, is complicated, and rage is a big part of it.”

In real life, some people thought Lizzie was a lesbian as she was a spinster, and there were theories that she may have had a relationship with her maid, but it was all just speculation. People also found what have now been described as Lizzie Borden’s “gay notes,” where she seemingly wrote to a “young woman”. 

Later in life, Lizzie developed a close friendship with actress Nance O’Neil, who was also rumoured to be queer, so this has played into the lesbian speculation too. But there is no historical evidence that Lizzie Borden was gay, and Monster made a very conscious decision to exaggerate this for the show.  

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