Lizzie Borden’s Handwriting Analyzed

Today’s Fall River Herald News features an interesting piece about graphologist Janice Warren and her interpretation of Lizzie Borden’s character from analyzing her writing.

In summarizing Borden, Warren said she was highly emotional, which could be masked by her staunch pride and perfectionism. Her lofty goals to live among the city’s high society on the hill, combined with her weak self-direction and plight as a woman in a male dominated society set the stage for acute frustration. Her philosophy also appeared to deviate from the accepted norm. “Couple all this with her extreme contentiousness and temper and add her fear of losing her inheritance and ending up in a poor house and the stage is set,” she said.

To see how your handwriting stacks up against the rich and famous, join Warren on Friday, June 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Christ Church, 57 Main St., in Swansea. The event, a fundraiser for the church’s outreach projects, costs $5. Tickets are available at the door or in advance by calling 508-678-6486.

I, too, analyze handwriting and know that you can only tell the personality of the person at the time of writing, and should not make judgments about the long-term behavior of anyone with graphology. It is best to analyze people you do not know, as the history of a person can play into the reading without one even being aware of it. My most accurate analysis was always done on handwriting where the person was either an acquaintance or a stranger.

I realize that Ms. Warren is an expert and master, so my little talent from years of self-study probably would not come close to her abilities. I am eager to see what she has to say, and look forward to meeting her in person during her talk Friday night. I have much to learn and am particularly fascinated by handwriting analysis as a tool for not only character study, but self-investigation.