Female Body as Space of Resistance in Eleven Minutes

Abstract

Paulo Coelho, in Eleven Minutes, presents Maria as the protagonist of the novel who seems a representative woman of the worldly women; suffering from various oppression due to their bodily victimization. She was born as an innocent Brazilian village girl. She drifts from one event to another and reaches to Geneva where she endures various pain, suffering and oppression caused by patriarchal ideology. Most of the male characters of the novel want Maria to fulfill their sexual desire. Knowing this sort of selfish manner of men Maria radically advocates women's right to have sex, to love and to be loved. She uses her body openly being a prostitute to resist men's oppression to women as well as to overthrow patriarchal ideology regarding the traditionally determined social roles, values and relation of men and women. Radical feminism is the dominant theoretical issue used to analyze the novel because Maria radically reacts against patriarchal ideology to subvert women's oppression caused by men's vision of sex and sexuality. Finally she abandons the profession of prostitution, returns to her country, marries the man of her choice, gets two daughters and spent ordinary life like other women of the era. In such a way Maria becomes successful to pick up the pearl of life in her adventurous odyssey of self discovery with the help of Ralf Hart who helps her to find out her inner light amid pain, suffering, frustration and oppression caused by patriarchal vision regarding to sex and sexuality.