Others have said Andrew Borden was the one who caught them. Whether Borden actually had an affair with Bridget Sullivan is unclear some have supposed Abby Borden caught the two together, leading Lizzie Borden to kill her. She later added that after Borden discovered her father’s body she called out, “Maggie, come quick!” Unclear: Lizzie Borden was gayĪnother bit of conjecture about Lizzie Borden has to do with her sexuality, a theory that becomes a central point in Lizzie. “In the household, I was sometimes called Maggie, by Miss Emma and Miss Lizzie,” Sullivan said in her testimony. In real life, the entire Borden family, including Lizzie and her sister Emma, who was not home at the time of the murders, referred to Sullivan as Maggie, according to the maid’s testimony. It’s Lizzie Borden who uses Sullivan’s real name when addressing her - a sign that she sees her as an equal. In Lizzie, Andrew Borden and his wife disrespectfully call the maid, Bridget Sullivan, by the name of a previous employee, Maggie. Fiction: Lizzie Borden called Bridget Sullivan by her real name Borden was also known for keeping a tight hand on the family purse strings. In real life, Morse arrived shortly before the murders to discuss business matters with the Borden patriarch. Lizzie Borden’s uncle, John Morse, is shown coming to meet with Andrew Borden about inheriting the property. But Borden, as shown in the movie, was incredibly frugal and kept his daughters out of important financial matters. Based on the inquest statement, it appears Borden did not kill the pigeons out of malice toward his daughter.īettmann/Getty Images Fact: The Bordens were wealthy, but still worried about moneyĪndrew Borden was a wealthy businessman, and the family’s estate was worth the equivalent of about $8.3 million.
But Borden said he “wrung their necks.” She did not, at least in the statement, seem particularly concerned about the fate of the pigeons, which are described less like pets and more like livestock.
Andrew Borden did, in fact, kill pigeons the family had kept, according to Lizzie Borden’s inquest statement.
The movie picks up on a popular theory about the Borden murders, which maintains that Andrew Borden killing the pigeons was part of what pushed Lizzie Borden to murder him. One particularly disturbing scene shows Borden’s father, in a fit of rage, beheading her beloved pet pigeons, leaving her distraught. It’s not just humans who face a hatchet in Lizzie. Fiction: Andrew Borden killed his daughter’s pet birds with a hatchet Here’s what’s real - and what’s fictional - in the movie. Much of Lizzie is based on unsubstantiated rumors about Lizzie Borden, which have only grown since she was acquitted. As Lizzie tells it, Borden and Sullivan have an affair, and orchestrate the bloody murders of Andrew and Abby Borden as an act of self-liberation. Sevigny’s Borden, with an affinity for animals, a zeal for music and a growing affection for Sullivan, is shown as a kind, queer woman coming to grips with the fact that the men in her life will only suppress her. Lizzie’s father, Andrew Borden, is shown as a controlling and cruel man whose actions range from maddening, like restricting his daughters’ independence, to vile: he repeatedly sexual assaults Bridget Sullivan, the family’s maid. Borden might be remembered in connection with her parents’ gory end, but in Lizzie, it’s the men who are perpetuating the violence. 14, that portrays the mysterious woman as a victim of the patriarchy. Borden’s story has been the source material for musicals, a Lifetime miniseries and now a movie, out Sept. Thanks to a grisly schoolyard poem - Lizzie Borden took an ax, and gave her mother 40 whacks… - her name remains far better known than the actual facts of what happened. More than 100 years after the trial, the unsolved grisly double murder still draws tremendous interest.