52 pages • 1 hour read
Who Is Maud Dixon?
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Themes
The Dark Side of Ambition
Florence’s obsession with her career reflects the novel’s central theme of the dark side of ambition. Florence’s move to New York City crushes her dreams of becoming a novelist because of the constant pressures to achieve fame and fortune. As Florence struggles to reconcile her values of respecting other people with her ambition, her desire to succeed at any cost pushes her toward criminal activity to preserve her career.
Within the New York City social scene, Florence becomes obsessed with the idea of genius. Florence wants Vera’s promise of greatness to be true for her life, but the thought that she may not have the success that she once anticipated terrifies her. The idea of mediocrity scares Florence because she buys into the idea that an average life means that a person is not special. To avoid becoming average, Florence decides to pursue success, no matter what the cost. Florence begins to veer outside her sense of morality when she extorts Simon and stalks his family, hoping to get her work published. This moment leaves Florence open to the possibility of pursuing other forms of crime to achieve her success later in the novel. Rather than showing remorse for her actions, Florence continues to pursue the dark side of ambition, which eventually results in her murdering Helen and Greta to become Maud Dixon.
Florence’s descent into criminal activity reveals how ambition can corrupt a person until they no longer view people as human beings. Helen exemplifies this trait because she hires Florence with the sole aim of murdering her. However, Helen’s encouragement for Florence to take what she wants from life and craft her own identity plants the seed for Florence to steal Helen’s identity. Florence’s final decision to murder Helen and Greta to ensure that she can complete Maud Dixon’s manuscript highlights her departure from morality toward the pursuit of her career. Even when Florence has secured her career, Florence does not think of the people she has murdered, but how she will be able to flaunt her success in other people’s faces. Florence cannot wait for other people to think that she had the restraint to “kee[p] it secret for all that time” (320). Florence’s thoughts show how she was only ever concerned with people’s perception of her, revealing how the twisted nature of competition and success has led her to justify any action, even murder.
The Complexities of Personal Identity and Reinvention
Andrews explores the complexities of personal identity and reinvention through Florence’s lack of self-worth. Once Florence arrives in New York City, she loses her confidence because she no longer feels special in the competitive job market. Florence feels desperate to distinguish herself, so she becomes obsessed with the idea of reinvention. Andrews highlights Florence’s lack of self-worth by revealing her transformation into a completely new identity as she slowly becomes Helen, and later, Maud Dixon.
Helen taps into Florence’s insecurity, teaching her that she must craft a new identity if she wants to succeed in life. Florence feels confident for the first time since arriving in New York City as she travels to Morocco because she “was running out the clock on Florence, on the person she currently was. It was a pleasant thought” (122). This quote shows that Florence wants to shed her old identity to transform into someone else because of her low self-esteem. Florence feels excited at the prospect of becoming someone else because it means that she will have the opportunity to craft a new personality and achieve the success that she wants. Florence’s decision to steal Helen’s identity solidifies this theory and shows Florence the power of becoming someone else. Florence delights in the social power she feels as Helen, feeling a newfound sense of confidence in social situations. This discovery transforms Florence into a person who no longer cares about how other people feel because she becomes addicted to the sense of power that it gives her over other people.
Florence’s reinvention stems from her observation of Helen and her adoption of Helen’s belief systems. Although Florence views Helen as her mentor, she incorporates Helen’s individualistic and selfish personality for herself, especially after she pretends to be Helen. Once Florence realizes that Helen wanted to steal her identity and murder her to evade paying for her crimes, Florence realizes that everyone in life steals to get ahead. Florence refuses to be left behind because of her timidity. Florence’s ability to transform into a manipulative murderer like Helen shows the lengths that Florence is willing to go to make sure she becomes Maud Dixon.
As Florence sheds her old identity and becomes Maud Dixon, she reveals the dark underbelly of reinvention because she views everyone else around her as disposable, with her own sense of self and morality proving to be dangerously fluid and deceptive.
The Tension Between Reality and Fiction
Andrews highlights the tension between reality and fiction through Helen’s dishonesty and the blending of Helen and Florence’s identities. As Helen continually spins lies about her past and Mississippi Foxtrot, she shows the tenuous line between reality and fiction. At the same time, Helen and Florence’s identities gradually become so intertwined that Florence ultimately cannot separate herself from the lies that she has created.
Helen reveals her complicated relationship with reality when she explains how the plot of Mississippi Foxtrot is about her own life. Helen exploits the fact that she murdered Ellis and pinned the murder on Jenny to profit off the sensationalism of the story. Since Helen learns how to create her reality through her writing and her subsequent rise to fame, she finds it easy to prey on Florence, intending to eventually murder her and steal her identity. Since Helen has such a fluid relationship with the truth, she does not find anything wrong in taking advantage of her surroundings because they do not seem real to her. Instead, Helen plays with the people in her life as if they are characters in her novel. Florence’s discovery of Helen’s real manuscript solidifies the fact that Helen cannot write novels: Rather, she creates horror in her own life that she can then profit from under the guise of Maud Dixon’s bestsellers.
As Florence learns from Helen’s behavior, she starts to blend reality and fiction in her own life. Florence’s decision to steal Helen’s identity reflects her belief that she can reinvent herself and create her own reality. Andrews emphasizes this by describing how similar Florence and Helen have become, both in their appearance and in their actions. At first, Florence tells herself that she knows she is playing a role, but the longer she pretends to be Helen, the more determined she becomes to hold onto her new identity. As the identities of Florence and Helen blur, Florence finds herself trapped by her lies. Helen’s attempt to trap Florence until she can murder her and steal her identity backfires because Florence rises to the occasion and murders Helen instead.
Florence learns from Helen’s mixture of reality and fiction when she decides to kill Greta because she knows that she can become Maud Dixon, adding another layer to her fictions. Instead of learning from Helen’s flaws, Florence embodies them, realizing that she can create the life that she wants even if it means killing and lying to make it real.
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