Who Is Maud Dixon?

“Florence had haunted the library, desperate for glimpses of lives unlike her own. She had a penchant for stories about glamourous, doomed women like Anna Karenina and Isabel Archer. Soon, however, her fascination shifted from the women in the stories to the women who wrote them. She devoured the diaries of Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf, who were far more glamourous and doomed than any of their characters.”

Florence’s interest in novels and the lives of authors emphasizes The Tension Between Reality and Fiction. Rather than understanding the complexities of authors such as Plath (The Bell Jar) or Woolf (To the Lighthouse), or characters like Anna Karenina and Isabel Archer (from The Portrait of a Lady), Florence conflates the authors with the nature of their characters’ lives.

“In Florida, Florence had grown used to being the most sophisticated person in the room. But in this grubby bar, she felt inadequate—stupid, really—for the first time in her life. She had been blithely walking around thinking she knew more than everyone and all of a sudden, she realized she didn’t know a thing. If you’d asked her that morning, she would have said that red roses were just about the most elegant thing she could think of. And she hadn’t realized that maligning Hemingway was even on the table.”

Florence experiences insecurity for the first time when she moves to New York City. Rather than regaining her confidence and aiming to hold onto her individuality, Florence deflates and feels too embarrassed to be herself, which invokes The Complexities of Personal Identity and Reinvention.

“Her sense of self slipped from her as easily as a coat slips off the back of a chair. She’d outgrown the girl she’d been in Florida, but how did one go about building up someone new? She tried on moods and personalities like outfits. One day she was interested in ruthlessness. The next, she wanted to be an object of adoration. She put her faith in the transformative power of new boots, liquid eyeliner, and once—terrifyingly—a beret, as if an identity could seep in from the outside, like nicotine from a patch.”

Andrews uses the simile of a coat slipping off a chair to emphasize the way Florence becomes detached from her sense of self, once more speaking to The Complexities of Personal Identity and Reinvention. Florence does not know how to reinvent herself, so she spends her time copying other people and trying to create something that sticks to her in terms of an identity.

“She had originally wanted to be a writer so that everyone would know that Florence Darrow was a genius. But during those years in Gainesville, what she’d loved most was the rush of not being Florence Darrow. For brief periods of time, in front of her computer, she’d left that self behind and become anyone she wanted. It was an amazing thought: If she did this one thing well enough—inhabiting someone else’s life—her own life would finally be worth something.”

This quote highlights both Florence’s arrogance and her lack of self-worth, which leads to The Dark Side of Ambition. Florence cares more about what people think of her than the quality of her writing, yet this arrogance stems from her lack of confidence because Florence desperately wants people to accept her.

“Florence wondered if that’s what Maud Dixon had seen in her: life. The will to really live, at any cost. That, ultimately, is what her stint at Forrester had left her with: a deep fear of insignificance and the understanding that one could slip into a flimsy, aimless life without even realizing it.”

Florence’s arrogance prevents her from seeing the obvious problem with why Helen would hire her so quickly. Instead, Florence believes that she has an inherent genius that Helen has seen because Florence refuses to let her life become insignificant.

“In the same way she couldn’t understand why people were so determined to expose Maud Dixon’s identity, she couldn’t understand why they needed to pin things down, turn poetry into fact. Wasn’t poetry better? Why would you turn something beautiful into something quotidian?”

This quote shows how Florence wants to turn fiction into reality, reflecting The Tension Between Reality and Fiction. Rather than living a mundane life, Florence subscribes to idealism because she wants to live within her novels instead of in the real world. This foreshadows how Florence’s life will become like a novel because of her decision to keep Helen’s death from the police.

“When Florence had arrived in New York, she’d been overwhelmed by the diffuse, esoteric, truly foreign knowledge that had been accrued by seemingly everyone but her [...] She wanted the right opinions. She wanted to know that red roses were tacky. She wanted to know how to pronounce mores. People like Amanda Lincoln and Ingrid Thorne would never understand the innumerable advantages they had over others.”

This quote shows how the pressures of New York society and The Dark Side of Ambition make Florence believe that there are right versus wrong opinions. Florence feels so insignificant in Amanda and Ingrid’s presence that she wishes that she could learn how to impress them, rather than constantly feeling unworthy.

“I watched very closely and then I played the part. If you pretend for long enough, anything can become natural. And I mean truly natural. I wouldn’t listen to opera or drink expensive wine if I didn’t genuinely enjoy them.”

Helen’s suggestion to copy people around Florence until their identity becomes her own foreshadows how Florence will steal Helen’s identity, invoking the theme of The Complexities of Personal Identity and Reinvention. Florence decides to copy Helen’s mannerisms, which later helps Florence fully embody taking on Helen’s life.

“The only place she had ever gotten a sense of the world’s beauty and magnitude was in books [...] She’d loved escaping into a universe entirely unlike her own. It was part of what made her want to be a writer. She wanted to hold that immensity in her hand. To mold entire worlds according to her vision.”

Florence reveals that the escapism that she finds in novels stems from her desire to control. Rather than wanting to create art, Florence views writing as the ability to have power over worlds and characters. This quote foreshadows Florence’s transformation because she has wanted control and power from a very young age.

“It was almost as if there were two different Florences in her mother’s eyes: the potential Florence, the great one, whom Vera adored, and the real Florence, who constantly thwarted Vera’s hopes and dreams [...] What Florence wanted to do was prove to her mother that this Florence, the one she really was, could be great on her own terms: as a writer; as an artist. She was sick of being made to feel like she was falling short of Vera’s ideal.”

The pressure that Vera puts on Florence to be great causes Florence to crumble, reflecting The Dark Side of Ambition. Rather than seeing Vera’s love as encouragement, Florence realizes that Vera does not truly see her for who she is.

“She was running out the clock on Florence, on the person she currently was. It was a pleasant thought. She was sick to death of herself. That was one of the problems of always being stuck in her own head; the outside world isn’t loud enough to drown out the constant monologue on the inside [...] Does she like me? Do I look okay? Will I ever be happy? Will I ever be successful? It was like listening to the same song over and over every day for years.”

Florence’s constant stream of anxious thoughts emphasizes The Complexities of Personal Identity and Reinvention. Florence feels the pressure to constantly reinvent herself and she knows that she must do it soon or risk becoming stuck in an average life that won’t fulfill her.

“Helen’s eyes were still closed, and she wasn’t wearing her seat belt. She never did. Florence wondered what would happen if she were to slam on the brakes. Helen’s head would probably bounce off the dashboard like a soccer ball.”

Florence’s daydream about Helen dying in a car crash foreshadows the car accident that Helen orchestrates to fake her death. However, it also reveals how Florence has violent tendencies and that she has finally started to feel frustrated with Helen’s constant demands.

“If you spend your life looking for fairness, you’ll be disappointed. Fairness doesn’t exist. And if it did, it would be boring. It would leave no room for the unexpected. But if you search for greatness—for beauty, for art, for transcendence—those are where the rewards are. That is what makes life worth living.”

Helen’s view of fairness and greatness emphasizes how she believes that greatness always overrules morality. Helen believes that, as the great author Maud Dixon, she is above the law. Although Florence finds this view horrifying, she eventually buys into it once she realizes how exhilarating power and success feel.

“She told me that after she decided to shoot him but before she actually pulled the trigger, everything was heightened—all her senses, her emotions, everything. She could hear his lungs expanding, she could hear the blood pumping in his veins. And she felt this phenomenal power coursing through her body, like electricity. And I knew nothing about it; I couldn’t relate at all. It was like she had been initiated into a club that wouldn’t have me.”

Helen’s description of Jenny killing Ellis reveals that she is the true murderer because of the specificity of her description. This quote foreshadows Helen’s murderous tendencies because she describes delighting in the power that she feels when she murders someone.

“She was going to become Helen Wilcox. And why not? Helen’s identity was just waiting there, unused, like a big, empty house. Meanwhile, she was living in a small, ugly, Florence-size hovel. Why shouldn’t she move into the abandoned mansion? Why should she let it fall into disrepair instead? She could go in and do some upkeep.”

The metaphor of Florence moving into a house to describe how she will steal Helen’s identity signifies how Florence convinces herself that her decision is insignificant. Florence’s decision changes the course of her life because she slowly sheds her old self and becomes another version of Helen.

“All those old doubts and insecurities and anxieties, her constant companions—those belonged to Florence Darrow, and she could finally let them go. She didn’t have to try so hard to change anymore. Change? What a hoax! Nobody changes. They spend years tweaking their habits, taking small incremental steps in the hopes of altering the course of their lives, and it never works.”

Florence feels free when she becomes Helen because she can release her insecurities and pretend to be someone else, which speaks to The Complexities of Personal Identity and Reinvention. This quote signifies the temptation for Florence to leave her past self behind with the promise of becoming someone new.

“What had at first disappointed Florence about the scene [...] had turned out to be the perfect environment in which to incubate her new self. Disdain, after all, has always been a useful stepping-stone to confidence, and that was what was required of her now. Something verging on hubris, not her usual muck of insecurity and self-doubt. Among the Helen Wilcoxes and Amanda Lincolns of the world, Florence was used to feeling small and inadequate. But last night, she’d had the sense that Meg and Nick and that girl who’d asked her for writing advice had actually been impressed by her. The power had been in her hands for once.”

Florence becomes addicted to The Dark Side of Ambition and the sense of power she feels when people respect her and listen to her advice. Instead of using this power to build her confidence, Florence interprets it as evidence for why she should continue pretending to be Helen.

“Helen had loved power. Not physical power; that was irrelevant. Emotional power, psychological power—that was her currency. She’d enjoyed exercising it just as a musician or a dancer takes simple, sheer pleasure in his craft. In conversation, Helen had dictated the direction and the tone. She constantly withheld information for no good reason, and she’d loved to throw Florence off guard with outlandish assertions.”

Once Florence thinks Helen is dead, she realizes how arrogant and power-hungry Helen was. Helen’s obsession with power, however, extends beyond what Florence realizes because she has staged her entire death to continue holding on to power.

“Just calling herself by a different name, a name that was for her associated with such magnetism and strength, had returned the whole tenor of her being. She’d felt...transfigured. Even among people who didn’t matter, who didn’t know that Helen was a world-famous writer, even alone in the back of the taxi on the way home. Putting on the guise of Helen, she really had felt more commanding, more interesting, more worthy in every possible way. Oddly, she felt more like herself—more like the woman she had always suspected was somewhere inside her.”

Florence feels comfortable as Helen because she already believes in Helen’s worth and success. Since Florence does not believe in herself, she second-guesses everything she believes. Becoming Helen gives Florence a boost of confidence that she did not know was possible for her, which is why she continues the charade.

“She tried to put the phone call with Greta out of her mind. She wanted to regain that rush she’d woken up with; the electrifying pleasure of being Helen. She hadn’t liked going back to being Florence while dealing with Greta. It left a residue. Something sticky and uncomfortable that she wished she could scrub off. She wanted the lightness back, the confidence, the strength.”

Florence experiences a duality in her character because she pretends to be Helen in Morocco, but instantly shifts back to her usual personality when on the phone with Greta. Florence compares her exhilaration in becoming Helen to an addiction because she feels high on the confidence that shifting her identity brings her, highlighting The Complexities of Personal Identity and Reinvention.

“‘And I think you understand, Florence—that desire to become someone new. Life is so varied. There are so many ways to experience it. What a shame to taste only one—especially the lives you and I were born into. I could sense that wandering soul in you the first I saw you. It’s part of the reason I chose you. I knew you could cast off your old life like you were shrugging off a coat.’

‘Chose me?’

‘Chose you as my new coat.’”

This interaction between Helen and Florence shows Helen’s cavalier, twisted attitude toward other people’s lives. Helen’s description that Florence’s identity is nothing more than a new “coat” for her to wear emphasizes her corrupt nature, but also how she manipulates The Tension Between Reality and Fiction. Helen only sees the people around her as commodities and characters, rather than as human beings.

“Everyone steals, including Helen. She’d stolen from Jenny […] Florence wasn’t going to apologize for how she’d gotten here. She was done apologizing. She could be whoever she wanted to be, and she would get there however she had to. She had dropped the gun to her side, but now she lifted it again and pointed it at Helen. A cruel smile parted her lips.”

This moment emphasizes Florence’s final transformation. Helen’s taunts finally break her down and she realizes that everyone in life steals to get what they want. Rather than present herself differently, Florence decides to kill Helen to take what she wants, just as Helen was going to do to her.

“Perhaps it was a type of apprenticeship, Florence thought. Just like The Morocco Exchange would be for her. Helen had said it herself: If you pretend for long enough, anything can become natural. Truly natural.”

Florence convinces herself that her assistantship with Helen was a type of apprenticeship, where she was practicing how to emulate Helen in the future. Florence turns Helen’s words against her in this quote by mirroring an earlier point in the novel: She decides to pretend to be Maud Dixon until it becomes natural for her.