The romantic relationship between Lizzie Borden and Bridget Sullivan depicted in Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is a fictional interpretation rather than an established fact of their lives.
Ella Beatty plays Lizzie, while Vicky Krieps portrays Bridget, the housemaid whose relationship with her employer becomes central to the series and is connected to the violence that later takes place in the Borden home.
What is known about Bridget Sullivan?
Bridget Sullivan was a real person who worked for the Borden family. In testimony at Lizzie’s 1893 trial, she said she was born in Ireland and had been employed by the family for two years and nine months when Andrew and Abby Borden died.
Her duties included cooking, washing, ironing and sweeping. She lived in the house, sleeping in a bedroom on the third floor.
Bridget also told the court that Lizzie and her sister Emma sometimes called her “Maggie”. The nickname was therefore not created for the Netflix drama, although the show gives a different explanation for its use.
In the series, Lizzie’s stepmother calls her “Maggie” because it was also the name of the previous housekeeper and she does not make the effort to learn Bridget’s name. There is no indication in the available account that this detail reflects real events.
Was the Lizzie Borden and Bridget Sullivan romance real?
There is no documented evidence that Lizzie Borden and Bridget Sullivan were romantically involved. Rumours about Lizzie’s sexuality have existed, but they were more closely associated with a reported relationship with actor Nance O’Neil.
The historical record also distinguishes the alleged romance from the murder case. Lizzie was tried for killing her father and stepmother and was acquitted in 1893.
Beatty has described her portrayal as an imaginative version of the historical figure. Speaking to Netflix Tudum, she said: “I was exploring a person that we were imagining and creating using details from the real person’s life to animate and fill in the blanks.”
The idea of a romance between the two women has appeared on screen before. The 2018 film Lizzie starred Chloë Sevigny as Lizzie and Kristen Stewart as Bridget, with their relationship also presented as romantic.
