How Monsters subject Lizzie Borden spent her final years before lonely death
True crime enthusiasts and streaming superstars alike are obsessed with the latest instalment in Ryan Murphy’s Monster series—and this time, Lizzie Borden has taken centre stage.
On 17 September, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, created by Ian Brennan, debuted on Netflix with a jaw-dropping 36 percent rating on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer.
“Lizzie Borden is such a massive remix, mingling facts with half-truths and rumors and fabrications, it barely matters which detail is which,” wrote one reviewer, while a second added: “In this go-round, all theh franchise’s favourite tricks have lost their impact, and its provocations ring hollow.”
Despite being critically panned, The Lizzie Borden Story has viewers talking online about 19th-century sex toys and the protagonist's menstrual issues, as well as what really happened to her.
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You may or may not know, but the American woman died in June 1927—35 years after she was acquitted of the brutal murder of her father, Andrew and stepmother, Abby.
The pair were found bludgeoned to death with a hatchet at their home in Massachusetts in August 1892.
In the show, described as an eight-part ‘loose retelling’ of the infamous 1892 axe murders, Borden is cast as the guilty party.
But in reality, she did not go to jail for her parents’ deaths in 1983. Instead, she was publicly shunned by her community, which forced her to live in near-total isolation.
How Lizzie Borden spent her final years
A year before she died in 1927, the woman headed to Providence Hospital to remove her gallbladder following a decline in health, as reported by The Herald News.
People Magazine wrote that she checked into the establishment under the name ‘Mary Smith Borden’ and that she was afforded a private room.
Following the surgery, Borden remained ill. She died at her Fall River home on 1 June after suffering for more than a year from various complications, according to the New York Times.
She was 66 years old and left $30,000 to the Animal Rescue League of Fall River.
The Borden family died out nine days later when her sister, Emma, died, aged 76. The Herald News states that her cause of death was chronic nephritis with senility
The New York Times said that Emma, who left her sister due to conditions at their home becoming ‘absolutely unbearable’, was not left anything by her sibling in her will.
“I have not given my sister anything, as she had her share of her father’s estate and is supposed to have enough to make her comfortable,” a notation in the will read, per the outlet.,
Praise for Sarah Paulson in Monster Netflix series
Viewers who have tuned into Monsters: The Lizzie Borden Story, starring Ella Beatty, Vicky Krieps, and Charlie Hunnam, have praised Sarah Paulson, who portrays Aileen Wuornos, a serial killer who committed seven murders between 1989 and 1990.
“It's crazy. I was telling myself before seeing it, she can't be better than Charlize Theron, but yes.. She’s incredible,” wrote one Facebook user.
A second replied: “I wish Ryan Murphy would’ve made Aileen’s own monster story I think it could’ve waited.”
“She had her down to a T. Her wide crazy eyes were perfect,” someone else commented.
A fourth added: “Come on it’s the legend that is Sarah Paulson. She’s such a phenomenal actress that she going to outshine anyone she’s acting with.
“No shade and all but yeah she was the best thing about that show. She needs to be Emmy nomination for this show.”
Watch Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story on Netflix now.
Topics: Netflix, True Crime, Crime
Ella Scott