Monster is wrong: Here’s Lizzie Borden and Abby’s real relationship, and the fight that ended it

Though saying that a Ryan Murphy project isn’t historically accurate is redundant at this point, upon watching Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, I could help but wonder about what her stepmother, Abby Borden, was actually like. 

From the very first moment in the new Netflix show, Abby Borden is made out to be the real monster. To call her cruel would be an understatement, so none of us was particularly upset when she received whack after whack to the face. 

Naturally, given who made the show, it’s important to question the accuracy of the characters, settings and references. Okay, so basically, question everything. 

Was Lizzie Borden’s stepmother Abby actually a monster?

Credit: Netflix

From abusing the maids to locking a baby Lizzie in her bedroom, Abby Borden did not get the best cut in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. But as with most things from the mind of Ryan Murphy, it’s mostly made up.  

In American Heritage, it’s reported that Abby was a quiet “spinster”, and there was never anything to suggest that “Abby was anything but kind to the two little girls whose stepmother she became, but they never returned her affection.”

“Mrs. Borden did not control the house,” family friend Alice Russell testified at the inquest. 

Even her own stepmother described her as a “closed-mouth woman” who could “bear a great deal and say nothing.” 

So no, she was not the foul-mouthed battle axe we saw on Netflix. Shocker. 

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Their relationship was particularly fraught after this incident 

Credit: Netflix

Though Abby Borden was not the evil woman we saw in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, that isn’t to say that her relationship with Lizzie was all sunshine and rainbows. 

Things were somewhat normal between Lizzie and Abby for many years, and the former even called her mother. But that all changed in 1887, when Andrew Borden purchased a property for Abby’s half-sister. Both of the sisters were allegedly angered by the decision, especially given Andrew’s usual frugal nature. 

“What he did for her, he ought to do for his own children,” Lizzie said at trial. 

Many historians claim this was the turning point in their relationship, but by Lizzie’s own words, she stopped calling Abby mother “because I wanted to.”

So yes, although Ryan Murphy would have you believe that Lizzie Borden was a lesbian icon with mean, mean parents, that was simply not the case. 

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is streaming now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Featured image credit: Netflix