Who is Maria from Friend of My Youth: Stories and what is their importance?

Like Brenda, Maria needs the illicit sex that she is getting, not simply for the physical feeling, but for the emotional release and freedom it brings. Like Brenda she feels trapped by what others need her to be, and tied down by responsibilities. She has the shop forced on her, something at which she is good but by which she does not necessarily want to be defined. Maria is known by everyone as a quiet responsible girl, but there is more to her beneath the surface. She longs for a sense of freedom, to escape her responsibilities, to be wild and rash and different. She seeks sex for the thrill it brings, and for the sense of being able to escape herself and be a different person for a while. It is likely that she also feels a need for the attention and physical closeness which she cannot otherwise get.