The monstrous Muslim-Jew enemy served to constitute European identity.

Evidence

During the Renaissance, Jews and Muslims continued to be presented as a related enemy that helped to constitute European identity—“the shadow of an ageless ghost.” — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 246

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the reader’s question 3: what the monster lets its makers avoid/achieve is self-definition through negation.