According to Adrienne Mancia, Maria Felix “achieved stardom and a cult following through her roles with de Fuentes. Maria Felix WAS Dona Barbara and The Woman Without a Soul. Her screen presence is as commanding to a Mexican audience as Marlene Dietrich's and Joan Crawford's are to their public. As the ‘femme fatale,' the role that de Fuentes outlined for her, Maria Felix went on to international stardom. Dona Barbara is betrayed early in the narrative. Her lover is murdered. She is raped. Steeling her heart - ‘corruption of the soul' - she creates a ruthless mask that eventually cracks in the presence of true love.”