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.