LIZZIE REVIEW
Prompt #1.
Lizzie film is a mystery and a puzzle to be solved. It depicts Lizzie as a notoriouscharacter who is guilty of the murder charges brought forward against her. However, Lizzie is a woman trying to stand up for herself and her sister, by fighting against the discrimination she received from her father, for being a woman. The film revolves around murder and feminism. Deaths in the movie are as a result of strained relationships within the characters. Family misunderstanding, as seen in the movie, is depicted because of chaos and confusion.According to facts provided in the film, Lizzie is guilty of the murder charges.
Lizzie, who is the main character in the story, is accused of killing Andrew and Abby Borden. Andrew was Lizzie’s father, while Abby was her stepmother. The circumstances leading to the murder of the two are strange since they are both found hacked gruesomely in their home compound. Being the closest family member to the duo, Lizzie becomes the prime suspect in the gruesome murders of his parents, majorly because she had direct access to their home compound. Lizzie is labeled and represented as inhuman due to the relentless nature of the murders. She lacks compassion and love for her parents. The awful relationship between Lizzie and her parents are seen as factors that could result in the killing.
After the grisly murders and authority placing Lizzie as the suspect, she is arrested in connection with the death of her parents. However, in 1893, charges against Lizzie are dropped due to the insufficiency of enough evidence connecting her to the murder. The evidence is described as a stroke of coincidence and not a piece of substantial evidence to convict Lizzie. Lizzie was acquitted because the police had done a shoddy job in collecting blood stains from the suspect’s clothes, which would have made a compelling and concrete case, once tested positive.. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
The court of law acquainted Lizzie as a result of a lack of enough evidence. The jury could not see her, as a woman, courageous enough to axe her parents and overlooked the stated scenario by the detectives. The killings were beyond any woman’s courage. The murders were articulately planned and executed to the extent that evidence gathering was unfavorable. The majority of people believed that Lizzie was guilty of the crime. However, the lack of a murder weapon made it inappropriate to connect Lizzie with the killings fully. Lizzie gave a testimony of the places she visited on the day of the murder. The statement presented on oath showed that she was nowhere around her parent’s homestead.
The tense relationship between Lizzie and her parents could have resulted in the murder. Andrew is described as a wealthy man. He used the wealth to control his daughter by constantly tracking her every move. Young ladies prefer to live an independent life free from scrutiny, especially from parents. Andrew’s oblivious actions could have angered Lizzie and added to her reasons for murdering her biological father (Lilly105–7)
Misunderstanding in this family is common, and one of them was based on a decision to relocate Lizzie and her sister. Andrew genuinely wants to move the family to the village where it was affordable. Lizzie and her sister are not willing to relocate, so their father rents them one of his apartments. Ultimately, the sisters sell the property since they are investing a lot in the house, and it’s beyond repair.
Lizzie had a strange relationship with her sister Emma. The misunderstandings between the duo occurred occasionally. Lizzie’s characters stand to be judged from the frequent disagreements with her sister. She is challenging to get along with and violent. Lizzie cannot control her anger, which affects her life as no maids are willing to work at their house. As a result of the toxic and sad environment in Andrew’s home, no one is willing to work there. Abby has to add wages to Bridget to ensure that she stays and performs the duties.
It is evident from the numerous cases that Lizzie killed her parents. Lizzie had a lust for her family’s properties. Coupled with her violent behavior, these could have triggered her to murder her parents. Apart from Andrew being affluent, he is an authoritative man who cannot be controlled easily by Lizzie. Lizzie killing Andrew and Abby is the transparent gateway to obtaining her parent’s wealth. Lizzie is not worried about her as she could easily control her. Lizzie is interested in earning a living from her parents’ wealth. After she is set free, Lizzie sells the family home and starts a new life with her sister.
The updated film of Lizzie’s story depicts Lizzie as the real murder of Andrew and Abby Borden. In the new movie, once the murder charges are dropped, Lizzie proceeds with her life regularly and chooses to stay in Fall River, despite the numerous backlashes from the residents. Naturally, a person grieving a loss through such a tragedy experiences a physiological breakdown for a while before normalcy. However, in Lizzie’s case, she goes ahead and purchases a house in a wealthy neighborhood. She also changes her name to Lizbeth to separate herself from her family. Her friends are astonished by her behavior, and they segregate themselves from her.
Lizzie tries to fit in society by brainwashing Fall River residents in attempts to destroy the lousy picture the community had of her. She prepares multiple parties and celebrations and invites the residents to appease them and soften their hearts. However, the culture around still believes that Lizzie escaped justice on her parent’s death. All efforts by Lizzie to subvert people’s beliefs are not successful. In the updated film, the relationship between Lizzie and her sister suffers a blow after Emma fails to appreciate the high-quality life they are living. Emma is concerned with how her parent’s wealth is misused. The guilt causes her to leave the glamorous mansion as Lizzie’s lavish lifestyle is not compatible with her dull life.
Lizzie is depicted in the movie as a character who is paranoia and under duress. Lizzie is stressed by the condition at home and lacks motherly love since she is brought up by a stepmother. Lizzie feels a lack of compassion from her father, whose primary focus was on his wealth and second wife, rather than his immediate family. Abby, on the other hand, is a stepmother who is trying to fit in the family, although she is not welcome. A strained relationship develops between the daughter and the stepmother because they believe she married their father for the wrong reasons.
In the updated movie, the blame lies partly on Andrew. Andrew is drawn out as an evil character who denies her daughter freedom and shows little compassion towards her. Andrew harasses the maid sexually. When Lizzie finds out his father’s filthy tendencies, she is angered and plots on revenging Sullivan. The ordeal brings Lizzie and Sullivan closer and a sexual relation form between the two. When Andrew finds out about the relationship, he does the unspeakable. He decides to murder Lizzie’s pigeons, which were her favorite pets. The act of killing the pigeons portrays Andrew’s inhuman nature. Andrew kills the pigeons to show Lizzie that he is in charge and capable of controlling her. Lizzie feels inferior to her father’s patriarchy rule, which aggravates her. When Lizzie becomes of age, she feels unworthy when her father fails to include her on financial matters. In the movie, Andrew prefers having his brother John Morse inherit him rather than his daughter. Gender inequality is displayed in this act, where Andrew believes a woman cannot manage and handle finances and properties.
Gender discrimination, inequality, and patriarchal rule have been portrayed throughout the movie. Constant mistreatment and control by her father when he decides to relocate them, track her movement, and punish her for having a relationship with Sullivan angers Lizzie. Moreover, her father’s decision to choose his brother over her to inherit his wealth leads her to commit the gruesome murders.Lizzie seems to be a woman with strong convictions on how she should be treated. She aims to be wealthy, own properties, and live among the elite, which her father tries to deny her. Also, a weak family foundation due to bad relationships in the family and numerousmisunderstandings resulted in Lizzie killing her parents.
Work Cited
Sarah LirleyMccune, “Lizzie Borden on Trial: Murder, Ethnicity, and Gender by Joseph A. Conforti,” Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 115, no. 1 (2017): pp. 105-107