Maria can also be read as a cipher for many of the anti-Semitic stereotypes of the time. Like the Jews of contemporary anti-Semitic caricature, she is quite literally a product of an urban, technological, ultramodern world of industry and capitalism, devoid of feelings and originality, and dedicated to corrupting the purity of the people. She is not rooted in anything and merely mimics the soulfulness of those around her while in reality seducing them with her neurotic sexuality and leading them to their destruction. These were all accusations leveled at the Jews by anti-Semitic writers,
