No, the real Andrew and Abby’s marriage wasn’t much like Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story

In the Netflix show Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, the relationship between Andrew and Abby Borden is rather peculiar. They alternate between ignoring and praising each other, and both cheat on each other. As Ryan Murphy productions aren’t exactly known for their historical accuracy, here’s a deep dive into what the real Andrew and Abby Borden’s marriage was like.

The real Andrew didn’t replace his wife so quickly

In Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, Lizzie tells Bridget: “Father and her only courted a short while before marrying. My mother was buried only weeks before.” She implies Abby rushed to marry Andrew because she had no relatives or money.

The real Andrew Borden married Abby three years after his first wife died, and she definitely had relatives (see below).

Andrew appeared to have favoured Abby over his other family members

Lizzie Borden’s parents ‘courting’ in Netflix’s Monster

During Lizzie Borden’s actual trial, Emma explained that approximately five or six years ago, her father spent $1,500 on a house for Abby and her half-sister, Mrs Whitehead. This caused tensions between Andrew and Abby, and Emma and Lizzie. At that point, Andrew hadn’t bought any equivalent gifts for Emma or Lizzie. It was around the time that Lizzie started calling Abby “Mrs Borden” instead of “mother” (although Emma wouldn’t directly say that this was because of the house, or that she and Lizzie were still bitter about it).

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Lizzie spoke about her parents’ relationship at the inquest

During her bewildering testimony at the inquest, Lizzie was asked about Andrew and Abby’s marriage. She answered that she didn’t know of any difficulties between them, that he seemed to be affectionate towards her, and that they were “happily united”.

The district attorney asked if Andrew was affectionate towards Abby “as man and woman who are married ought to be”. Lizzie answered: “So far as I have ever had any chance of judging”. When pressed, she responded with a more straightforward “yes”.

There’s no historical evidence to prove Andrew and Abby had affairs (although, people have come up with plenty of theories over the last century).

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Featured image credit: Netflix