Lizzie Borden-Nance O’Neil relationship explained: What Netflix's Monster shows vs what really happened

The Lizzie Borden-Nance O'Neil relationship left many wondering if the murder accused was friends with the actor, and Netflix's Monster has rekindled interest.

Lizzie Borden's relationship with Nance O'Neil has left many guessing as to whether there was more than friendship between the two. Now, Netflix's Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story has rekindled interest in the matter.

Lizzie Borden's relationship with actor Nance O'Neil has been the subject of speculations long before Netflix's Monster series. (X/@actorkasim, Instagram/thelizziebordenstory)

Borden was accused of killing her parents with an ax in 1892, but was acquitted the following year. However, she never quite managed to live down the notoriety of the case. O'Neil was an actor who The Boston Globe had defined as a 'tall, graceful woman with magnificent proportions” with “an unusual attribute for a tragedienne” and “eyes that are sympathetic and gentle and powerful and—oh so wonderfully magnetic!."

While Borden and O'Neil's relationship has been documented in some detail in real life, the Netflix series which premiered on September 17 takes some creative liberties. Here's what Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story shows and what really happened between O'Neil and Borden.

What Netflix series shows about Lizzie Borden, Nance O'Neil

Deep Dive

What was the nature of the relationship between Lizzie Borden and Nance O'Neil?

How did the Netflix series 'Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story' depict the timeline of Borden and O'Neil's relationship?

Why do some historians debate the possibility of a romantic relationship between Lizzie Borden and Nance O'Neil?

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In Ryan Murphy's Netflix series, Borden and O'Neil meet a dozen years before their actual meeting. The two meet before Borden's parents' murders, as per the series.

Jessica Barden plays O'Neil while Ella Beatty plays Borden. They meet after Borden goes out on an afternoon date with the family maid Bridget Sullivan, played by Vicky Krieps. Borden asks O'Neil for her autograph and invites her to dinner.

The reality between the two was much different.

Lizzie Borden, Nance O'Neil's relationship explained

O’Neil was born Gertrude Lamson to a religious father. However, she managed to get into showbusiness starting on the stage. She made her Boston debut in 1904 which is when O'Neil crossed paths with Borden.

Having seen O'Neil on stage, Borden sent her a note expressing how she held her in high regard and asked if she could call on the actor. While O'Neil later said that she only found out about Borden being accused of her parents' murder after their friendship began, historians are of a different opinion. “I don’t think that’s even possible,” Dr. Jennifer Jones Cavenaugh author of Rebels of Their Sex: Nance O’Neil and Lizzie Borden said, as per Vanity Fair.

Nonetheless, O'Neil invited Borden backstage thus began the friendship between the actor, who was then 29, and Borden, who was 44 by that time. Borden is likely to have invited O'Neil to the house she and her sister, Emma, bought as per the publication. The actor later stayed there when she was ‘ill from overwork’ at which time Borden helped nurse her back to health. In May 1904, with help from Borden in the down payment, O'Neil bought a farm property nearby where they could vacation together. By June, Borden had gifted O'Neil an expensive book of poetry, whose dedication read ‘for my dear Lizbeth with love from Daphne.,’ which were pet names the two had for each other.

People who have researched on Borden and O'Neil are of opposing opinions on the possibility of a homosexual relationship. “I’d say they’re definitely romantic, but maybe not sexual,” as per The Trial of Lizzie Borden author Cara Robertson. Meanwhile, Cavenaugh said ”I could certainly see it," adding, “Whether they were or weren’t lesbians, what’s important is that people thought they were,” as per Vanity Fair.

Borden ended up throwing parties for O'Neil and her entire troupe of actors at her place, which would often last for days, according to reports. Eventually, there was a falling out between Borden and her sister, Emma, who cut ties with the murder accused.

By 1906, things between Borden and O'Neil cooled down. In May, the actor declared bankruptcy and left for Paris. Rebecca F. Pittman of The History & Haunting of Lizzie Borden said “she got tired of Lizzie and had got all she could from her and moved on,” speculating on the likely reason for O'Neil's move.

Later, O'Neil married British actor Alfred Hickman. She also tried to transition from stage to screen, acting in movies like Cimarron and Transgression. Borden died at 66, in 1927, after which O'Neil downplayed their relationship. She described the murder accused as a ‘frail, little gentlewoman’ who ‘seemed utterly lonely.’ O'Neil maintained throughout that the double murder of Borden's parents was “never mentioned between us.”