Who Is Lizzie Borden A Victim

A story seemingly repeated an infinite number of times through a plethora of mediums, reminded every generation of Lizzie Borden, a woman accused of the gruesome murders of Andrew and Abby Borden in the late 19th century. Physically and morally, it was unfathomable for a lady of her socioeconomic status and pleasant features to drive a hatchet through the skull of her own father and step-mother. Although Lizzie initially appeared as an innocent victim, she was arrested and brought to court after the discovery of much evidence against her. The police of Fall River charged her with both murders, which led to a transcontinental and multigenerational obsession with Lizzie Borden’s trial. Cultural bias and female stereotypes prevented her from being

Before Abby’s death, a dressmaker mistakenly referred to Abby as Lizzie’s mother. To the dressmaker’s surprise, Lizzie roared, “don’t call her that to me. She is a mean thing and we hate her.” Lizzie claimed that her older sister, Emma, was the only maternal figure in her life. Furthermore, Lizzie’s relationship with her father was strained. Within her home, Lizzie lived a rather modest and uneventful life, but not by her own doing. Andrew Borden, believed in living below their means. Although Andrew accumulated a sizable fortune and had relatives pursuing a life of lavishness and frivolities, he practiced practicality. Lizzie was unlike her father. She craved adventure, beautiful dresses, and houses that her father could afford but would not provide.

Based off of evidence that Andrew Borden restricted his daughters from frivolous activities and kept them confined to the home, historians assumed he conformed to Victorian American gender roles and ideologies. The image of an ideal female that circulated through 19th century American culture, specifically the middle and upper classes, can be summed up by the Cult of True Womanhood, outlined by Barbra Welters. The Cult of True Womanhood was a term coined in modern times that described the kind of expectations placed on women of Lizzie Borden’s status and stature in