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Lizzie Borden: Netflix Series Rewrites Health History
23 Sep
Summary
- Netflix's show fictionalizes Lizzie Borden's menstrual pain and health conditions.
- Historically, no record exists of Lizzie Borden having unusually painful periods.
- The series invents a rare birth condition diagnosis for Lizzie Borden.
The Netflix series "Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story" explores the 1892 murders of Andrew and Abby Borden, reframing the narrative around Lizzie Borden's alleged health struggles. The show dramatizes severe menstrual pain, a detail lacking historical substantiation. While police found bloodied cloths identified as menstrual blood, the family doctor corroborated Lizzie's period at the time, leading to the cloths not being tested as evidence.
The series further invents a diagnosis of imperforate hymen for Lizzie, a rare birth condition that typically complicates bleeding, not causes heavy bleeding. This diagnosis is entirely fictional and not supported by any historical accounts. However, the show does accurately depict Lizzie Borden receiving morphine from her physician to calm her after the discovery of the bodies.
This sedation led to early police interviews being deemed inadmissible due to her condition and lack of legal counsel. The series also takes creative liberties with its ending, imagining Lizzie living with the maid, Bridget, and supporting women's suffrage, which differs from her actual life. In reality, Lizzie Borden continued to reside in Fall River until her death in 1927, undergoing gallbladder surgery shortly before she passed away.
