Paulo Coehlo’s Eleven Minutes – An Analysis

Eleven Minutes is a novel written by Paulo Coehlo, a Brazilian. It consists of so many erotic things and simply called as Erotic novel. It is a novel with erotic theme, a prostitute’s life. It is about the young girl who is dreamed about her future and decides to earn money. She accepts an offer from an agent to work at night club in Geneva. Later she realized that is here to work as prostitute. She continues her dream of future that she will get good husband and manage farm like that. She meets a guy who is a famous painter fall in love with him. The last part of novel is the big question whether they join or not?

The first few pages and last fifty pages nearly is full of erotic content. The author vividly portrays what is happening in the dark light. She uses the words like vagina, clitoris, and orgasm in an open manner. He writes in direct manner and presents what as it is.

In the beginning the bed scenes are represented as sexual point of view. Simply she attends a customer. She drinks her favorite cocktail drink. She goes to bed with him and give him pleasure. It is nothing but simply spread her thighs and lies down with guy. This symbolizes the male domination even though she doesn’t get any pleasure from them. In fact she suffers by pain by physically as well as mentally. Her only aim is to earn money and returning to her native. The theme of materialism and feminism is found here and there in the novel.

The theme of sadism is also presented in a little part. The author has a small touch upon it. He openly writes she is suffers by pain as well as pleasure. It gives her new experience and wants more. The author presents only a part of sadism but not fully. Sadism is more pain and torturing than pleasure but he portrays only pleasure.

The final part is exact contrast for opening part which contains erotic scene in a wild manner but with a love. Both are mourning and shouting wildly because of pleasure they get. They don’t make only one but twice. The title of novel ELEVEN MINUTES symbolizes the period of sexual intercourse. This is the time indicates the time of acquiring sexual pleasure for both male and female. This intercourse may be the one of the reasons for their reunion in the climax. Thus this novel is a Erotic within a story. The author wants to portray the life of a prostitute so erotic theme plays vital role than story. This is based on a real life incident.