Monster’s 8-Part Lizzie Borden Drama Recasts 1892 Murders as Feminist Fiction
Updated
Updated · Vulture · Sep 18
Monster’s 8-Part Lizzie Borden Drama Recasts 1892 Murders as Feminist Fiction
3 articles · Updated · Vulture · Sep 18
Summary
Netflix’s newly released “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story” treats the 1892 Fall River axe murders as a stylized “fantasia,” openly departing from the historical record around Lizzie Borden’s acquitted case.
The review argues that a 134-year-old unsolved mystery gives Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan unusual freedom after backlash over earlier “Monster” seasons about more recent killers and victims.
Key changes include presenting Lizzie as definitively guilty, turning maid Bridget Sullivan into a radical feminist lover, and reshaping family tensions, motives and timelines to fit a women-versus-the-system narrative.
Cara Robertson’s 2019 history is cited to contrast the show with known facts: Lizzie was 32, Bridget’s testimony never changed, and class, gender and anti-immigrant bias shaped how suspects were viewed.
The piece says the series is most strained when it grafts in Aileen Wuornos and Elizabeth Báthory, using other notorious women to widen its theme but adding little to understanding Lizzie Borden.