i
LIFE AS SEEN IN PAULO COELHO’S
THE WITCH
OF PORTOBELLO
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana PendidikanDegree
in English Language Education
By
Adrianus Seto Anggoro Student Number: 071214139
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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Anggoro, Adrianus Seto. 2012. The Never Ending Struggles of Athena’s Life as seen in Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello. Yogyakarta: English Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.
This study discusses The Witch of Portobello, a literary work written by a Brazilian novelist, Paulo Coelho. The Witch of Portobello tells about the life of the main character, Athena, who is accused by many people as a witch. The objective of the study is to discover the meaning of Athena’s life. There are two questions to be answered in this study (1) “how is Athena portrayed in the novel?” and (2) “how does Athena find the meaning of her life?”
The primary datum of this study is the novel itself. The secondary data are taken from the related books and the Internet. The theories employed in this study are theory of critical approaches, theory of motivation, theory of character and characterization, and theory of love, while the approach employed was psychoanalysis. That psychoanalysis approach is used to answer the formulated questions.
There were two things that could be concluded after analysing the novel. First was the portrayal of Athena in the novel. Athena was a beautiful woman. She was independent since she raised her child without a husband. She was also determined because she had a strong will to defend the things she think was right. She was charismatic because many people followed her. As a mother she was motherly because she loves her son very much. She was adventurous because she believed that it is her path. Second was the meaning of Athena’s life as seen in her struggles. Athena’s struggles are listed as following: Athena’s struggle in university; Athena’s struggle in her marriage; and Athena’s struggle in teaching people. Those struggles ended up in failures. However, there are true meanings behind those failures. The true meaning behind Athena’s failure in university is for achieving love. Her failure in her marriage by accepting divorce request from her husband had true meaning to fulfill her safety needs. Athena’s failure in teaching people ended with the announcement of her own death, the true meaning of this action was also to fulfill her safety needs. Athena’s life is a never ending struggle since her life was full of struggles, and the climax of her struggle was the struggle to stay alive.
The writer suggested future researchers should explore more about the portrayal of the other characters that also plays a vital role in this novel such as Athena’s parents, Athena’s friends, Athena’s son, and so on. Future researchers can also analyze Athena’s enjoyment towards dance because she danced at most of the times. The novel itself can be used as material to teach Prose II in English Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University.
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Anggoro, Adrianus Seto. 2012. The Never Ending Struggles of Athena’s Life as Seen in Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Studi ini membahas The Witch of Portobello, sebuah karya sastra yang ditulis oleh seorang novelis Brazil, Paulo Coelho. The Witch of Portobello menceritakan kehidupan dari tokoh utamanya, Athena yang memiliki kemampuan seorang penyihir.
Studi ini bertujuan untuk menemukan makna sebenarnya dari hidup Athena. Ada dua rumusan masalah untuk dijawab dalam studi ini (1) “bagaimana Athena digambarkan dalam novel?” dan (2) “bagaimana Athena menemukan makna hidupnya?”
Sumber utama yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah novel itu sendiri. Sumber tambahan yang digunakan diambil dari buku-buku yang terkait dan internet. Studi ini menggunakan teori pendekatan kritis, teori motivasi, teori karakter dan perwatakan, dan teori cinta, sedangkan pendekatan dilakukan melalui analisis psikologi. Pendekatan melalui analisis psikologi tersebut digunakan untuk menjawab rumusan-rumusan masalah di atas.
Ada dua hal yang dapat disimpulkan setelah menganalisis novel ini. Kesimpulan pertama adalah penggambaran Athena di dalam novel. Athena adalah wanita yang cantik. Dia wanita mandiri karena mampu membesarkan anaknya tanpa suami. Dia juga memiliki tekad kuat karena akan memperjuangkan yang dia anggap benar. Dia orang yang karismatis karena banyak orang mengikutinya. Sebagai seorang ibu dia keibuan karena sangat mencintai anaknya. Dia senang berpetualang karena dia percaya itulah jalan hidupnya. Kesimpulan kedua adalah makna hidup Athena seperti yang terlihat dalam perjuangan-perjuangannya. Perjuangan-perjuangan Athena antara lain: Perjuangan Athena di universitas; Perjuangan Athena dalam perkawinannya; dan perjuangan Athena dalam mengajar orang-orang. Perjuangan-perjuangan tersebut berakhir dengan kegagalan. Bagaimanapun juga, terdapat makna sebenarnya dari kegagalan-kegagalan tersebut. Makna sebenarnya dari kegagalan-kegagalannya di universitas adalah mendapatkan cinta. Kegagalannya dalam perkawinan dengan menerima ajakan bercerai dari suaminya memiliki makna sesungguhnya yaitu untuk memenuhi kebutuhannya akan keamanan. Kegagalan Athena dalam mengajar orang-orang berakhir dengan pengumuman kematiannya, makna sebenarnya dari perbuatan ini juga untuk memenuhi kebutuhannya akan keamanan. Hidup Athena merupakan perjuangan tanpa akhir karena hidupnya penuh dengan perjuangan, dimana puncak dari perjuangannya adalah perjuangan untuk tetap hidup.
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materi untuk mengajar Prose II untuk Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris di Universitas Sanata Dharma.
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My greatest gratitude is addressed to all those who gave me the
possibility to complete this thesis. First of all, my deepest gratitude is to my
Almighty God, Lord Jesus Christ, for His wonderful love and guidance so I could
finish this thesis, my advisor Drs. Antonius Herujiyanto, M.A., Ph.D., as my
major sponsor who has spent his precious time, and dedicated his energy in
guiding me to finish this thesis. His inputs, patience, guidance, and correction
throughout the processes of writing this thesis are the biggest contributions, which
have helped me to finish it. I would like to give my deepest thanks to the lecturers
who became the examiners in my thesis defense, C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd. and
Ag. Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A. for the guidance, support, and opportunity given.
I would also like to thank all lecturers and staff of the English Education Study
Program, Sanata Dharma University. I would also like to express my particular
thanks to the library staff of Sanata Dharma University.
I would also deeply be grateful to my beloved family, especially my
parents B.S. Hartaja and Afra Tien Sotyaningrum for their endless prayers,
support, affection, attention, motivation, and love so I could finish my study and
my thesis. I would like to give my deepest thanks to my friends who help me
correcting my grammar: Gaby, Bre, and Hening. My gratitude also goes to my
friends of English Education Study Program 2007: Tommy, Rian, Asep, Wendy,
Bretya, Yusak, Dwi, Dezta, Lala, Popon, Asti, Rara, Dei, Haya, Nidya, and those
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cannot mention individually, but surely this thesis could not be done without their
support and help.
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2.1.2.2. The Ego...9
2.1.2.3. The Superego ...9
2.1.2.3.1 The Ego Ideal ...10
2.1.2.3.2 The Conscience ...10
2.1.2.4. The interaction of the Id, Ego, and Superego ...10
2.1.3. Theory of Motivation ...11
2.1.4. Theory of Character and Characterization ...14
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4.2. The Meaning of Athena’s Life as Seen in Her Struggles ...32
4.2.1. The List of Athena’s Struggles ...33
4.2.1.1. Athena’s Struggle in University ...33
4.2.1.2. Athena’s Struggle in Her Marriage ...34
4.2.1.3. Athena’s Struggle in Teaching People ...35
4.2.2. The True Meaning of Athena’s Struggles...37
4.2.2.1. Athena’s Struggle in University ...37
4.2.2.2. Athena’s Struggle in Her Marriage ... ...38
4.2.2.3. Athena’s Struggle in Teaching People ...39
4.2.3. The Meaning of Athena’s Life...39
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ...41
5.1. Conclusions ...41
5.2. Suggestions ...43
5.2.1. Suggestions for Future Researchers ...43
5.2.2. Suggestions for English Lecturers...44
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APPENDIX 1:SUMMARY OF THE WITCH OF PORTOBELLO...47
APPENDIX 2:AUTO BIOGRAPHY OF PAULO COELHO...48
APPENDIX 3:SYLLABUS OF PROSE II...53
APPENDIX 4:LESSON PLAN...59
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This first chapter consists of four sub-chapters. They are Background of Study, Objective of the Study, Problem Formulations, and Definition of Terms. In Background of Study, the primary datum was discussed. Objective of the Study explains the aim of this study. Problem Formulation mentions the questions to be answered in this study. The last sub-chapter, Definition of Terms, describes the meaning of the important words and expressions used in this study.
1.1. Background of the Study
the publication year, this novel is still considered fresh. The type of this novel is Portuguese fiction. Here is the brief summary of the novel:
This novel consists of people’s point of view about the main characters so the writer told the summary in general. The novel begins with Athena’s dead. Her real name was Sherine Khalil. In the novel she was usually called Athena. She is the main character of the novel. She was an adopted child. She was abandoned by her gipsy mother in Transylvania, Romania. She was taken by her adoptive parents to Beirut. They moved to London, where Athena continued her education until university. There she met a man that later became her husband. She then got divorced and lived with her son. Her last job known was a real-estate agent in Dubai. She learned calligraphy from a teacher in a desert. She also went back to Transylvania to find her birth mother. Her life was never flat. Later on, many people accused her as a witch. In the end, she was murdered—or at least that is what people were thinking. Mostly, the points of view that create the story come from the people who knew her: her adoptive mother, her ex-husband, a journalist, a priest, her landlord, her calligraphy teacher, and an actress. As we see in the brief summary, Athena as the main character of the novel always seeks for something in her life.
extraordinary life. This study has its purpose to discover the meaning of Athena’s life.
1.2. Objective of the Study
The aim of this study is to discover the meaning of Athena’s life as seen in Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello.
1.3. Research Problem
The problem of this study can be formulated into two research questions: 1) How is Athena portrayed in the novel?
2) How does Athena find the meaning of her life?
1.4. Definition of Terms
The following is the meaning of important words used in this study. These terms are needed to be defined to avoid misunderstanding in this study.
1.4.1. Character
1.4.2. Struggle
Struggle is the act or process, or an instance of struggling (Webster encyclopedic unabridged dictionary of English language, 1989, p. 1410). In this study, struggle means the act or process, or an instance of struggling that Athena did in her life.
1.4.3. Motivation
Motivation is the grounds in a character’s temperament and moral nature for his speech and actions (Abrams, 1981, p. 20). In this study, motivation means the grounds in Athena’s temperament and moral nature for her speech and actions.
1.4.4. Witch
5
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This second chapter consists of four sub-chapters. They are Theoretical Review, Theoretical Framework and Context of the Novel. In Theoretical Review, the theories employed are discussed. Theoretical Framework explains the contributions of the theories employed. The last sub-chapter, Context of the Novel, describes the social, cultural, political, and economical situation of the novelist and the novel.
2.1. Theoretical Review
In order to answer the research questions, the writer is employing several theories. They are Theory of Critical Approaches, Psychoanalysis, Theory of Motivation, Theory of Character and Characterization, and Theory of Love.
2.1.1. Theory of Critical Approaches
2.1.1.1. The Formalist Approach
This approach has purpose to apprehend the totality of the literary object. Mostly it concentrates on its esthetic value. Furthermore, the extreme formalist critic examines the literary piece without reference to facts of the author’s life, without reference to the genre of the piece or to its place in the development of the genre or in literary history, and without reference to its social milieu (pp. 6-7).
2.1.1.2. The Biographical Approach
Proponents of the biographical approach assert the necessity for an appreciation of the ideas and personality of the author to an understanding of the literary object. It provides useful facts about the author will help the readers to have a better understanding and appreciation toward the literary object (pp. 8-9).
2.1.1.3. The Sociocultural-Historical Approach
2.1.1.4. The Mythopoeic Approach
Critics who make use of the mythopoeic frame of reference seek to discover
certain universally recurrent patterns of human thought, which they believe find
expression in significant works of art (pp. 11-13).
2.1.1.5. The Psychological Approach
The psychological approach involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain
recurrent patterns. This approach tries to find the human psychology such as human
personality in the literary work. In applying these psychological theories the student
must once again be careful not to take the part for the whole and reduce a piece of
literature to a mere statement of a behavior pattern (pp. 13-15).
2.1.2. Psychoanalysis
In 1923, Freud presented his new "structural theory" of anid, ego, and
superegoin a book entitledThe Ego and the Id. Structural theory divides the psyche into theid, theego, and thesuper-ego. The id is present at birth as the repository of
basic instincts, which Freud called "Triebe" ("drives"): unorganized and unconscious, it operates merely on the 'pleasure principle', without realism or foresight. The ego
develops slowly and gradually, being concerned with mediating between the urgings
of the id and the realities of the external world; it thus operates on the 'reality
principle'. The super-ego is held to be the part of the ego in which self-observation,
super-ego are both partly conscious and partly unconscious. Furthermore, Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality believes that personality is composed of three elements. These three elements of personality, known as the id, the ego and the superego, work together to create complex human behaviors.
2.1.2.1. The Id
The id is the only component of personality that is present from birth. This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes of the instinctive and primitive behaviors. According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality. The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension.
2.1.2.2. The Ego
The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with
reality. According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that the
impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world. The ego
functions in the conscious, preconscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind. The
ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in
realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality principle weighs the costs and
benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses.
In many cases, the id’s impulses can be satisfied through a process of delayed
gratification, the ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the appropriate
time and place. The ego also discharges tension created by unmet impulses through
the secondary process, in which the ego tries to find an object in the real world that
matches the mental image created by the id's primary process.
2.1.2.3. The Superego
The last component of personality to develop is the superego. The superego is the
aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals that
we acquire from both parents and society—our sense of right and wrong. The
superego provides guidelines for making judgements. The superego acts to perfect
and civilize our behavior. It works to suppress all unacceptable urges of the id and
struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather that upon realistic
According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five. There are two parts of the superego:
2.1.2.3.1. The Ego Ideal
The ego ideal includes the rules and standards for good behaviors. These behaviors include those, which are approved of by parental and other authority figures. Obeying these rules leads to feelings of pride, value and accomplishment.
2.1.2.3.2. The Conscience
The conscience includes information about things that are viewed as bad by parents and society. These behaviors are often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments or feelings of guilt and remorse.
2.1.2.4. The Interaction of the Id, Ego and Superego
Meanwhile, one of the approach introduced by Rohrberger and Woods, Jr. in
their work Reading and Writing About Literature in 1971 is the psychological approach: The psychological involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain
recurrent patterns. This approach tries to find the human psychology such as human
personality in the literary work. In applying these psychological theories the student
must once again be careful not to take the part for the whole and reduce a piece of
literature to a mere statement of a behavior pattern (pp. 13-15).
2.1.3. Theory of Motivation
The basis of Maslow's motivation theory is that human beings are motivated by
unsatisfied needs, and that certain lower factors need to be satisfied before higher
needs can be satisfied. According to Maslow (1987), there are general types of needs
namely physiological, survival, safety, love, and esteem that must be satisfied before
a person can act unselfishly. He calls these needs "deficiency needs." As long as we
are motivated to satisfy these cravings, we are moving towards growth, toward
self-actualization. Satisfying needs is healthy, while preventing gratification makes us
sick or acts evilly (pp. 80-122).
As a result, for adequate workplace motivation, it is important that leadership
understands the active needs active for individual employee motivation. In this
manner, Maslow's model indicates that fundamental, lower-order needs like safety
and physiological requirements have to be satisfied in order to pursue
following hierarchical
“Maslow's Needs Triangle
the next need one rank higher starts to motivate.
2.1.3.1. Self-actualization
Self-actualization
quest of reaching one’s
hierarchical diagram, sometimes called “'Maslow's Needs
Needs Triangle”, after a need is satisfied it stops acting
the next need one rank higher starts to motivate.
Self-Actualization
Esteem Needs
Social Needs
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs
Figure 2.1. Maslow’s Needs Pyramid
actualization
actualization is the summit of Maslow’s motivation theory.
reaching one’s full potential as a person. Unlike lower level
Needs Pyramid” or
acting as a motivator and
motivation theory. It is about the
is never fully satisfied; as one grows psychologically there are always new
opportunities to continue to grow. Self-actualized people tend to have motivators
such as truth, justice, wisdom, and meaning. Self-actualized persons have frequent
occurrences of peak experiences, which are energized moments of profound
happiness and harmony. According to Maslow, only a small percentage of the
population reaches the level of self-actualization.
2.1.3.2.Esteem Needs
After a person feels that he “belongs”, the urge to attain a degree of importance
emerges. Esteem needs can be categorized as external motivators and internal
motivators. Internally motivating esteem needs are those such as self-esteem,
accomplishment, and self respect. External esteem needs are those such as reputation
and recognition. Some examples of esteem needs are recognition (external
motivator), attention (external motivator), social status (external motivator),
accomplishment (internal motivator), self-respect (internal motivator), and success.
Maslow later improved his model to add a layer in between self-actualization
and esteem needs: the need for aesthetics and knowledge.
2.1.3.3.Social Needs
Once a person has met the lower level physiological and safety needs, higher
needs are those related to interaction with others and may include friendship,
acceptance, affection, belonging to a group, and giving and receiving love.
2.1.3.4.Safety Needs
They are security, shelter, freedom from fear and anxiety. Once physiological
needs are met, one’s attention turns to safety and security in order to be free from the
threat of physical and emotional harm. Living in a safe area, medical insurance, job
security, and financial reserves might fulfil such needs. According to the Maslow
hierarchy, if a person feels threatened needs further up the pyramid will not receive
attention until that need has been resolved.
2.1.3.5.Physiological Needs
Physiological needs are those required to sustain life, such as air, water, food,
sex, and sleep. According to Maslow’s Needs Pyramid, if these fundamental needs
are not satisfied then one will surely be motivated to satisfy them. Higher needs such
as social needs and esteem are not recognized until one satisfies the needs basic to
existence. (1987, pp. 123-154)
2.1.4. Theory of Character and Characterization
Stanton (1965) states that character is commonly used in two ways. The first is
that character designates the individuals who appear in the story. The second is that
that makes up each of these individuals (p. 17). Character gives a certain situation or circumstance in the story because he or she shows his or her emotions in it.
Holman and Harmon (1986) believed that in lyric, essay, and autobiography,
authors reveal aspects of their own character; in biography and history, authors present the characters of actual person; and in fiction (drama, novel, short story, and narrative poem) authors reveal the characters of imaginary persons. The creation of
the imaginary persons so they exist for reader as lifelike is called characterization (p. 81).
2.1.5. Theory of Love
Sternberg (1986) comes up with a Triangular Theory of Love. The underlying
idea of this theory is that love can be dissected into three main parts: intimacy,
passion and decision/commitment.
2.1.5.1. Intimacy
This encompasses feelings of closeness, connectedness, and boundedness. With
passion, there is the initial infatuation, the strong emotions, and the attraction. It
2.1.5.2. Passion
2.1.5.4. These are the forms of love according to Sternberg
encompasses drives that lead to romance, physical attraction,
With intimacy, the lovers become closer, inter
psychologically their self-concepts begin to overlap.
Commitment
encompasses, in the short term, the decision to remain with
the shared achievements and plans made with that other.
volitional of the three, the decision to take steps to maintain
(pp. 118-135).
e are the forms of love according to Sternberg:
Figure 2.2. Sternberg’s The Forms of Love
physical attraction, and sexual
closer, inter-dependant, and
remain with another, and in
with that other. Commitment
2.1.5.4.1. Liking/friendship: Is characterizes true friendships, in which a person feels a bond, warmth, and a closeness with another but not passion or long-term commitment.
2.1.5.4.2. Infatuated love:It is pure passion.
2.1.5.4.3. Empty love: It is characterized by commitment without intimacy or passion.
2.1.5.4.4. Romantic love: It bonds individuals emotionally through intimacy and physically through passionate arousal, but neither is sustained without commitment.
2.1.5.4.5. Companionate love: It is an intimate, non-passionate type of love that is stronger than friendship because of the element of long-term commitment. The love ideally shared between family members is a form of companionate love, as is the love between close friends who have a platonic but strong friendship.
2.1.5.4.6. Fatuous love:Its commitment is motivated largely by passion without the stabilizing influence of intimacy.
2.1.5.4.7. Consummate love: It is the complete form of love. Consummate love is theorized to be that love associated with the “perfect couple” (p. 341).
2.2. Theoretical Framework
Athena. By analyzing Athena psychologically, it gives better understanding towards the main subject of this study. The id, the ego, and super-ego presented by Freud analyze Athena deeply. By using psychoanalysis the psychological aspect of Athena as seen in Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello can be revealed.
The Theory of Critical Approaches proposed by Rohrberger and Woods, Jr. becomes the second basic approaches to examine a literary works. The concepts presented by Rohrberger and Woods, Jr. examine Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobellothrough five various approaches. Those approaches analyze the aspects of the novel critically.
Next, the novel is examined using the theory of motivation from Abraham Maslow. This theory is necessary to examine the novel the way it is intended. This theory used to give deep analysis to Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello. This is the final step that eventually concludes the whole study as seen in the final chapter. The upbringing of this concepts leads this study to the next, final evaluation to Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello.
Forth, theories employed are the theory of character and characterization. This theory is significant because this study examines the Athena – the main character of Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello. The concepts of character here follow the theories proposed by Stanton. Furthermore, Holman and Harmon’s theory of characterization develops this study.
the other characters of the story. Furthermore, the analysis using this theory answer
one aspect of the second research question.
2.3. Context of the Novel
This session deals with social, cultural, political, and economical situation of the
novelist and the novel. This was taken from the interviews by Valerie Reiss with
Paulo Coelho, the author of The Witch of Portobello(included in the Novel).
2.3.1. The Novelist
The social situation when Paulo Coelho wrote this novel mainly deals with love,
where he said that love is so hard for us to accept – because it implies suffering. Next,
the Cultural situation of the author concerns with dancing. Paulo Coelho does dance
and he does not think about anything when he dances. Where the political situation
states that the major religions—Christianity, Judaism, and Moslem—they deny
somehow that God has a feminine face. Last, the economical situation Paulo Coelho
has is outstanding since he succeeds with his prior novels before The Witch of Portobello.
2.3.2. The Novel
The Witch of Portobello’s social situation takes place in the early 21st century, where people relations with others are modern. The cultural situation of the author
situation states that what Athena’s doing becomes controversy. Last, the economical
situation of the novel refers to economical situation in the early 21st century, where
the characters of the novel relatively in a good economic condition since it have never
21
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This third chapter consists of three sub-chapters. They are Subject Matter,
Approach, and Procedures. In Subject Matter, the theories employed are discussed.
Approach mentions the approach used in this study. The last sub-chapter, Procedures,
explains the steps to answer the research questions.
3.1. Subject Matter
The subject matter here is a novel that the writer chooses to be analyzed. The
Witch of Portobellois one of the great literary works from Paulo Coelho. Though the
original novel was published in 2006 in Portuguese language, what the writer
mentions here is the English-translation version – translated by Margaret Jull Costa in
2007. This novel was published in 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers in the United
States of America. From the publication year, this novel is considered fresh. In this
book, Coelho works with the return to the goddess religion, the interpretation of love,
and the feminine part of the Divine within the theme of searching for one’s true self
and opening to the energies of the world.
The genre of Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobellois considered fiction since it
is not based on a real story. The story was created from different perceptions. The
adoptive mother, her ex-husband, a journalist, a priest, her landlord, her calligraphy
teacher, and an actress. Each narrator has their own opinion based on their perception.
Furthermore, it could be found out that the setting of the novel takes place in various
places: Beirut, Dubai, Transylvania, Scotland, and London.
This novel may best described as the chronicles of Athena’s life. Paulo Coelho’s
The Witch of Portobello is the kind of story that can transform the way readers
thought about love, passion, joy and sacrifice. Paulo Coelho portrays the meaning of
love, passion, joy, and sacrifice differently in this novel.
3.2. Approach
This study used one of the Critical Approaches—introduced by Rohrberger and
Woods, Jr. in their work Reading and Writing About Literaturepublished in 1971. It
consists of five approaches: The Formalist Approach, the Biographical Approach, the
Sociocultural-Historical Approach, the Mythopoeic Approach, and the Psychological
Approach. A critical approach to literature necessitates an understanding of its nature,
function, and positive values. Rohrberger and Woods, Jr. (1971) states that one must
know what literature is, how to read it, and how to judge it (p. 3). This quotation
suggests that literary works can only be analyzed by understanding the roots of that
literary works itself. Rohrberger and Woods, Jr. believe it is necessary to use the
critical approaches, which consist of five approaches, in order to understand a literary
Freud’s work on Psychoanalysis as seen in his book The Ego and the Id(1923) is
the main approach of this study. His classification related to human psychology gives
deep analysis to the main subject of this study. Freud composed that humans have
three elements of personality: the id, the ego and the superego.
The ego was employed to analyze the surface meaning of Athena’s struggle. The
surface meaning—or better known as literal meaning can be seen through human’s
act. In this study, it analyzed Athena’s struggles in her life literally.
The id was employed to analyze the deeper meaning of Athena’s struggles. The
deeper meaning—or better known as true meaning can not be seen but it can be
predicted through human’s act. In this study it analyzes what is the real purpose
behind Athena’s struggles in her life.
Furthermore, the result of those analysis on the surface meaning and the deeper meaning of Athena’s struggles became the background to obtain the answer for the second research question.
3.3. Procedures
In order to conduct the study, a library research was used. The primary datum—
Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello—is the object that is analyzed, in which
books and web pages became the secondary data.
This study was concluded through several steps. First, the preliminary step was
reading the novel, this became the basic of this study. The next was gathering the
formulation. The analysis of Athena as seen in Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of
Portobellowas conducted based on that secondary data.
This study was conducted based on two sources. The first one was the primary
datum. The primary datum is Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello. The second
one was the secondary data. The secondary data were books and web pages related to
25
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter discusses the content of Paulo Coelho’s novel The Witch of
Portobello with the purpose of answering the problem formulation stated in chapter
one. The theories in chapter two are implemented to support the analysis. The first
analysis deals with the portrayal of the main character of the novel, Athena. The
second analysis examines how Athena found the meaning of her life.
4.1. Athena’s Character
This first subchapter only focuses on the character and life of Athena as the main
character of Paulo Coelho’s novel The Witch of Portobello. Athena was chosen as the
subject of this discussion because she was the main character that created the whole
story of the novel. Thus, Athena is categorized as the protagonist in the story.
According to Stanton (1965), character is commonly used in two ways: the first
is that character designates the individuals who appear in the story, the second is that
character refers to the mixture of interests, desires, emotions, and moral principles
that makes up each of these individuals (p. 17). Athena, who appeared in the story as
the main character showed her interests, desires, emotions, and moral principles from
Athena’s existence as an imaginary person who is existed for the reader was
supported by Holman and Harmon’s theory of characterization (1986). They believe
that characterization is the creation of the imaginary persons so they exist for reader.
(p. 81)
Athena was born in Romania from a gipsy mother. However, her biological
mother left her in an adoption center. Then she was adopted by a couple from
Lebanon and lived together with them until college. This condition had shaped
Athena’s character because she was an adopted child. However, she grew like another
child in the neighborhood. She was raised in Lebanon and then moved together with
her parents to London, where she took her college study.
4.1.1. Beautiful
Athena had white skin and straight hair as seen by her ex-husband when they
were in university.
She was just nineteen and about to have a stand-up fight with a fellow student in the university cafeteria because the fellow student, assuming Athena to be English (white skin, straight hair, eyes that were sometimes green, sometimes gray), had made some insulting remark about the Middle East. (p. 23)
Athena’s ex-husband described her as a pretty woman with the gray eyes.
“Stop it!” I shouted again at the pretty young woman who now had the other equally pretty young woman by the throat. (p. 23)
Another testimony comes from Deidre O’Neill. “She raised her arm. I asked her to do
the same with her left arm. I looked at her breasts, far prettier than mine” (p.133).
Andrea McCain also has the same thought with Deidre O’Neill. “I noticed her
breasts, which were the most beautiful I’d ever seen” (p. 203).
4.1.2. Independent
After she got divorced with her husband, Athena lived together with her son in an
apartment. “It was this kind of solidarity that made me rent her the third floor of my
house in Basset Road—normally, I’d prefer tenants without children” (p. 47). She
also had a job “When I returned at London, I immediately told Athena about this
invitation, and she accepted at once” (p. 72). She traveled without a man to guard her.
“Athena remarked that she’d traveled for nearly five hours on the train with her son
on her lap” (p. 133). Athena’s mother acknowledged her daughter’s ability: “It was
as if all her professional success, her ability to earn money, her joy at having found a
new love, her contentment when she played with her son – my grandson – had all
been relegated to second place” (pp. 84-85).
4.1.3. Determined
Athena’s act showed her determination. “But Athena got up, grabbed the other
girl by the collar, and started screaming: “Racist!” (p. 23). She signed the divorce
paper though she knew the consequences. “Because all my life I’ve learned to suffer
before me and repeated the usual gesture: she closed her eyes and opened her mouth
to receive the body of Christ” (p. 44). After that she bravely criticized that Christian
rule.
“A curse on this place!” said the voice. “A curse on all those who never listened to the words of Christ and who have transformed his message into a stone building. For Christ said: ‘Come unt me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ Well, I’m heavy laden, and they won’t let me come to him. Today I’ve learned that the Church has changed those words to read: ‘Come unto me all ye who follow our rules, and let the heavy laden go hang!’ (p. 45)
She learned and adapted quickly. “When I returned to London, I immediately
told Athena about this invitation, and she accepted at once” (p. 72). She also had a
strong will to learn caligraphy even though she had to drive to the desert, “You
shouldn’t drive alone in a place you don’t know, and you shouldn’t come here
without a guide” (p. 73). She determined to learn a way to get closer to God. “But I
can’t continue on my own; I need someone to teach me” (p. 74). “I was quite simply
terrified when Sherine told me that she’d decided to go in search of her birth mother”
(p. 85).
In her journey to find her birth mother, her determination led her to a restaurant
owner who knew her birth mother. She went on a journey to Romania and met the
retaurant owner whom also the leader of the gypsi tribe.
At first the restaurant owner felt suspicious to Athena.
The young woman insists; she smiles, as if she were saying something highly amusing, and tells me that her mother is a gipsy and that she’d like to find her. She knows her full name. How could she obtain such information without the help of the Securitate? (p. 104)
“I can believe that the government kills, steals, and lies, but it wouldn’t risk handing
out false certificates, and so she really must be Liliana’s daughter, because the
certificate gives her full name and address” (p. 105). Later, he was sure that Athena
was really from his tribe.
I look at the certificate once more and wonder whether or not I should tell her where her mother is. Liliana deserves to meet this intellectual, caliming to be “one of us.” Liliana deserves to look this woman in the eye. (p. 106)
Finally this determination made him agreed to take Athena to her birth mother. “I’ll
take you to see Liliana tomorrow” (p. 107).
Athena was also determined in accepting challenges. “I was sure she would
listen to me, mainly because she was the kind of person who never refuses a
challenge” (p. 134). She believed that “yes” was better than “no”. “And whenever my
feet drove me onward, I said yes instead of saying no” (p. 233). When things were
getting worse, she showed no fear “I’m not afraid of death. If I were to to die today, I
would carry with me moments that few people my age have had the chance to
experience” (p. 254). In the end of the story, she decided to disappear by pretending
her “I used a syringe to take some of her blood. I cut off a lock of her hair and singed
it slightly. Back at the scene of crime, I scattered this “evidence” around” (p. 266).
4.1.4. Charismatic
Her charisma made many people follow her, and she was aware of it. “Athena
was conscious of her own charisma, and she made all those who loved her suffer” (p.
10). When she was working in a bank in London, her boss saw her leadership
improved the whole employee’s productivity “The young trainee with no previous
work experience, who up until then had seemed to veer between shyness and
aggression, had become a kind of natural leader among my workers” (p. 60). She also
led a relaxation exercise for a group of theater players.
If it hadn’t been for me, Athena would never have come to the teather that morning, gathered us all together, asked us to lie down on the stage and begin a relaxation exercise involving breathing and bringing our awareness to each part of the body. (p. 160)
Eventually her followers grew bigger, as one of the newspaper stated: “The reason
behind this pitched battle, which lasted nearly two hours, was a demonstration
organized by the Rev. Ian Buck to protest about what he called “the Satanic cult at the
heart of England.” (p. 223). However, her followers kept following her. “We left to
4.1.5. Motherly
As a mother, Athena loved her only son - Viorel. Before she got divorced, she
was afraid that her quarrels with her husband could brought bad effect on Viorel “Our
arguments became more frequent, and she threatened to leave because she feared that
Viorel was picking up the “negative energy” from our quarrels” (p. 37). Even when
Athena went to the desert she took her son with her and play together “They could
have been the same age; they ran about the desert, laughed, threw sand at each other,
and rolled down the dunes” (p. 74). In daily occasion, Athena also showed her love to
Viorel “Viorel’s hungry, and I’m sure he’s not the slightest bit interested in Greek
myths, so hurry up and finish Hera’s story” (p. 180).
Athena’s motherly instinct was very strong.
““Don’t you think I should be prepared to do anything for Viorel too?”
“I think that’s a mother’s instinct, but instinct aside, it’s the greatest proof of love there is.”
She continued eating. (p. 242)
When Viorel was about to be taken over from her, she could kill someone “That’s
why I’ve bought a gun. I know what it means for a child to be removed from his
mother, because I’ve experienced it myself.” (p. 254). Her son was the most
important thing in her life.
“Until, that is, I understood my fate, when I saw that I might lose the most important thing in my life.”
“Your son.”
4.1.6. Adventurous
Athena loved to spend her time looking for something in the unexpected places.
Athena was experiencing two main journeys in her life: her journey to the desert and
her journey to Transylvania. Those journeys were considered as spiritual journeys
since the reason Athena went on those journeys was to find a spiritual satisfaction.
Her journey to the desert is to seek wisdom through calligraphy. Meanwhile, her
journey to Transylvania was to find her birth mother.
Her journey to seek her birth mother was to reveal the truth. As an adopted
child, Athena did not know her birth mother until finally she decided to seek for her.
The meeting with her birth mother made her know the truth. Furthermore, she became
aware that she was loved.
“I came here because there was something missing in my life,” she said. “I needed to fill up my blank spaces, and I thought just seeing your face would be enough. But it wasn’t. I also needed to understand that...I was loved.”
“Your areloved.” (p. 122)
Athena believed that going on journeys was her path.
“Yes, I think they do. The earth I’m standing on now has laid out many strange paths for me, from a village in Transylvania to a city in the Middle East, from there to another city on an island, and then to the desert and back to Transylvania. From a suburban bank to a real estate company in the Persian Gulf.” (p. 233)
4.2. The Meaning of Athena’s Life as Seen in Her Struggles
This session consists of three sections: the list of Athena’s struggle, the true
believes: The ego also discharges tension created by unmet impulses through the
secondary process, in which the ego tries to find an object in the real world that
matches the mental image created by the id's primary process. The literal meaning—
as seen in the list of Athena’s struggles, refers to the ego and the true meaning refer to
the id. This session examines the events of Athena’s life to see how she find the
meaning of her life.
4.2.1. The List of Athena’s Struggles
This session discusses Athena’s struggles literally. As we already knew that
Athena’s struggle in this novel was to find the meaning of her life. Athena went on
many struggle on her life as listed below.
4.2.1.1. Athena’s Struggle in University
At first, Athena entered university because she wanted to be an engineer.
“Athena was able to study at good schools, she attended dance classes—because
dance was her passion—and when she’d finished at secondary school, she chose to
take a degree in engineering” (p. 25). She almost ruined her university career because
she was attacking another student. “Oh, very, but when you attack someone weaker
than yourself, you make it look as if you really do need protection. You could have
ruined your university career right there and then” (p. 26).
She then ruined her university career herself by suddenly told his boyfriend–
a semester of equations, calculations, and structural studies, she announced that she
was going to leave university” (p. 27). When Lukas asked Athena what she was going
to do after leaving university, Athena answered: “I’m going to get married and have a
baby” (p. 28). Therefore, her struggle to get an engineering degree from university
was failed.
4.2.1.2. Athena’s Struggle in Her Marriage
Athena got married to Lukas Jessen-Petersen in a young age. “I was twenty, she
was nineteen, and I thought it was still too early to take on such a commitment” (p.
28). At first, the idea of marriage was rejected by her family. “I asked if she’d told
her own family, and she said that she had, and that their reaction had been one of
horror, accompanied by tears from her mother and threats from her mother” (p. 32).
Approximately two years after their marriage, their baby named Viorel was
born. “When Viorel was born, I had just turned twenty-two” (p. 34). Unfortunately,
they did not have any financial security.
But all this romanticism didn’t bring in money. Since I played no instrument and couldn’t even offer my services providing background music in a bar, I finally got a job as a trainee with a firm of architects, doing structural calculations. They paid me a very low hourly rate, and so I would leave the house very early each morning and come home late. (p. 35)
Athena and Lukas started to had problems.
Lukas believed that divorce could solve their problems. “The next day, I told Athena
that I wanted a divorce” (p. 38). They eventually divorced. “A few months later, we
signed the final divorce papers” (p. 40). Athena was failed in having a family through
marriage.
4.2.1.3. Athena’s Struggle in Teaching People
First time Athena knew about what a teacher is when she learned calligraphy in
the desert. “What is a teacher? I’ll tell you: it isn’t someone who teaches something,
but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she
already knows” (p. 78). Edda was the one who asked Athena to be a teacher. “Those
are things you know already. You need to teach what you don’t know, what the
Mother wants to reveal through you” (p. 134). Back to London, she started becoming
a teacher. “Now was the time to make the most of the present, to live what remained
of her youth, and to teach others everything she had learned” (p. 141). “You’re lucky.
A group has just asked you to teach them something, and that will make you a
teacher” (p. 153). Even she taught how to love. “And yet”, she went on, “you’re as
capable of love as any other human being. How did you learn? You didn’t, you
simply believe. You believe, therefore you love” (p. 157). Edda only persuaded her to
teach, but later Athena became more than a teacher—she could transform into her
I glanced at Andrea. I thought she might say something, but she looked amazed as I did.
One of the actresses, possibly the youngest, raised her hand.
“I’d like to say something, but I need to know who I’m speaking to.” “Hagia Sofia.” (pp. 188-189)
At this state, she could make miracles so people kept coming to follow her.
All she did was to see what was happening in another reality. The young actress’s mother, now that she’s dead, lives in a place outside of time and so was able to change the course of events, whereas we human beings can only know about the present. But that’s no small thing: discovering a dormant illness before it gets worse, touching nervous systems and unblocking energies are within the reach of all of us. (p.192)
However, many people believed that Athena’s ability was a menace. They
started threatening her.
“As I was saying, I’ve been receiving death threats. I’ve been getting anonymous phone calls. They insult me and say I’m a menace, that I’m trying to restore the reign of Satan, and that they can’t allow this to happen.” (p.253)
Athena realized that many people considered her as a witch, which means she had to
be prosecuted so she could not awake the reign of Satan. She then decided to
disappear by pretending to be murdered so she could be free from those threats.
It wasn’t my idea to make it look as if she’d been murdered. Athena wanted to disappear and asked me if that would be possible. I explained that if the courts decided that the state should have custody of her child, I couldn’t go against the law, but when the judge found in her favor, we were free to carry out her plan. (p.264)
4.2.2. The True Meaning of Athena’s Struggles
This session discusses the true meaning of Athena’s struggles. Previously,
Athena’s struggles always ended up in failures. This session discusses the true
meaning behind those failures.
4.2.2.1. Athena’s Struggle in University
Athena believed that degree was not an important thing
This doesn’t mean that they’ve managed to find the kind of work they wanted. Not at all; they went to university because someone, at a time when universities seemed important, said that in order to rise in the world, you had to have a degree. (pp. 27-28)
Though she failed to get a degree in engineering, she succeeded in achieving love.
According to Maslow’s (1987), love is categorized as social needs. Athena loved her
husband and her son. The love shared among Athena and her husband can be
considered as fatuous love because they eventually got divorced. As proposed by
Sternberg (1987), in fatuous love the commitment is motivated largely by passion
without the stabilizing influence of intimacy (p. 341). Meanwhile, The love shared
among Athena and her son can be considered as companionate love. Sternberg (1987)
stated that companionate love is a kind of love that’s intimate and have long
term-commitment, as it’s a usual kind of love shared between family members (p. 341).
Athena’s motivation to enter university was to get a degree in engineering. She
(1987), this kind of need categorized as esteem needs, where the urge to attain a
degree of importance emerges.
4.2.2.2. Athena’s Struggle in Her Marriage
Through her marriage, Athena had achieved one of every woman’s dreams—
got married and had a baby.
“People think that a woman’s only dream is to get married and have children. And given what I’ve told you, you probably think that I’ve suffered a lot in life. It’s not true, and, besides, I’ve been there already. I’ve known other men who wanted to ‘protect’ me from all those tragedies. (p. 26)
That statement showed Athena’s strong will to be different. She believed that she
should accomplish one of her dreams—getting married and have children—just
because she had found the right guy. However, getting married in a young age was a
very radical step, and when she was asked to consider this she only replies using lines
by Robert Frost.
I asked her to give it some more thought before taking such a radical step, but she quoted these lines by Robert Frost:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. (p. 28)
It can be seen that Athena wanted to be different from any other common people.
Athena’s motivation to get married was because she loved her husband. She
sought for affection—and of course the need of giving and receiving love. According
to Maslow’s theory of motivation (1987), this kind of need can be categorized as
motivation in accepting divorce request from her husband was to be free from fear
and emotional harm. This is considered as the need for safety needs.
4.2.2.3. Athena’s Struggle in Teaching People
Athena achieved a great power whenever she transformed herself into Hagia
Sofia. She used this power to help people.
“I think you should tell them that you’re not performing any miracles today!” she shouted at Athena. “You’re allowing yourself to be seduced by vanity! Why doesn’t Hagia Sofia tell all these people to go away?”
“Because she can diagnose illnesses,” replied Athena defiantly. “And the more people who benefit from that, the better.” (p. 245)
Athena’s motivation to teach people was because she wanted to help them.
Athena experienced the energized moments of profound and harmony. According to
Maslow’s theory of motivation (1987), this kind of need categorized as
self-actualization since it was about the quest of reaching one’s full potential as a person.
However, Athena’s motivation to disappear was to fulfill her safety needs. Freedom
from fear was one example of this needs that Athena experienced. She wanted to be
free from the threat of physical and emotional harm.
4.2.3. The Meaning of Athena’s Life
As we seen previously, Athena’s struggles always ended up in failures.
However, her failures did not mean that she achieved nothing. Athena always
struggled in her life. In her last struggle—Athena’s struggle in teaching people, she
she was murdered. “All that remained was “death”, but the death had to take place in
completely normal circumstances, like the death of any other preson in a big city” (p.
265). Her boyfriend—a detective in Scotland Yard—helped her by making a fake
report of her death. He scattered Athena’s blood and hair around the victim’s corpse
so in his report he mentioned that it was the victim’s hair. “I used a syringe to take
some of her blood. I cut off a lock of her hair and singed it slightly. Back at the scene
of crime, I scattered this “evidence” around” (p. 266). However, her closest people
knew what was really happening. “Apart from me, only three people know this
story—her parents and her son.” (p. 267)
As described previously, even in her last struggle—her struggle in teaching
people—she had to disappear so she could survive. It meant that Athena’s life was a
never ending struggle. Furthermore, Athena’s struggle reached its climax when she
had to “kill herself” so people who wanted to kill her may think that she was dead.
This is Athena’s struggle to survive, so she could stay alive. All of Athena’s actions
represent her extraordinary life—that her life was full of struggle, when the climax of
41
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter is divided into two parts: conclusions and suggestions. The first section answers the research questions. The second one provides suggestion for future
researchers and suggestion for English lecturers.
1.1. Conclusions
Having analyzed the novel in the previous chapter, the writer drew the
conclusions. Since there were two research questions, the conclucions were also drawn into two. The first one was the portrayal of the Athena. The second was the meaning of Athena’s life as seen in her struggles. The writer used theory of character
and characterization to answer the first research question.
The first, vital analysis of this study was on the characterization of Athena.
Stanton (1965) stated that character gives a certain situation or circumstance in the
story because he or she shows his or her emotions in it(p. 17). Athena was portrayed
in the novel as: 1. Beautiful 2. Independent
5. Motherly 6. Adventurous
Psychoanalysis, theory of motivation, and theory of love answered the second
research question. Athena found the meaning of her life after she went through so many struggles:
1. Athena’s Struggle in University
2. Athena’s Struggle in Her Marriage 3. Athena’s Struggle in Teaching People
Those struggles ended up in failures. However, there were true meanings behind those failures. The climax of her stuggle was when many people want to kill her
because of their accusation that she was a witch. In order to survive, she had to “kill herself” by announcing her death. Her boyfriend—a detective in Scotland Yard— helped her by making a fake report of her death. He scattered Athena’s hair around
the victim’s corpse so in his report he mentioned that it is the victim’s hair. Even in her last struggle—her struggle in teaching people—she had to disappear so she could survive. It meant that Athena’s life is a never ending struggle. In conclusion, all of
Athena’s actions represent her extraordinary life—that her life was full of struggle, when the climax of her struggle was the struggle to stay alive.
1.2. Suggestions
1.2.1. Suggestion for Future Researchers
This study is not perfect. The aspects discussed here were limited. There are other aspects that need to be analyzed. All the time, Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of
Portobello talks about the life of Athena – the main character. Though the story in this novel is fiction, the background takes place in a modern life. That makes this novel easy to understand because any researcher does not need to look for a history
book. In order to analyze this novel, the future researchers should know deeply about this woman named Athena.
Basic knowledge needed to analyze this novel is knowledge about women. If the future researchers are women or knows a lot about woman, it would be easier to
analyze this novel. Reading this novel is like watching a drama show about a woman who lives in this modern age with all of her problems.
Another things that may be explored in this novel are the portrayal of the other
characters and Athena’s enjoyment towards dance. There are many other characters that also takes a big part in the novel such as Athena’s parents, Athena’s friends, and Athena’s son. Athena dances most of the time in the novel so it can be a good topic
to be analyzed.
1.2.2. Suggestion for English Lecturers
Teaching English through literary works is one example of teaching technique.
Teaching English through literary works is considered as one of the effective way of teaching English.
It is not appropriate to teach advanced English learners through storybooks
anymore because they have higher levels of English achievement. It is the reason why we have novels. Characters in the novels portray how people interact in real life. The learners will learn so many things about English by reading an English novel. Not
only the basic aspects of English but also about the culture. It is clear that literary work gives more understanding to the learners. Thus, English lecturers at the English Language Education Study Program may use the novel as the material to teach Prose II because this novel provides many examples of literary terms related to the theory
REFERENCES
Abrams, M. H. (1981). A glossary of literary terms. 4th ed. Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Cherry, K. (n.d.). The structural model of personality. Retrieved January 20, 2012, from http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/personalityelem.htm
Chevalier, J. and Gheerbrant, A. (1996). The penguin dictionary of symbols. London: Penguin Books.
Freud, S. (1923). The ego and the id. 2nded. London: Hogarth Press.
Holman, C. H. and Harmon, W. (1986). A handbook to literature. 5th ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Maslow, A. (1987).Motivation and personality. 3rded. New York: Harper and Row.
Rohrberger, M. and Woods, S. H. Jr. (1971).Reading and writing about literature. New York: Random House Inc.
Stanton, R. (1965). An introduction to fiction. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc.
Sternberg, R. J. (1986). A triangular theory of love. Psychological Review, 93. Pg. 119-135.
46
SUMMARY OF THE WITCH OF PORTOBELLO
The novel begins with Athena’s dead. Her real name is Sherine Khalil but
she usually called Athena. She is the main character of the novel. She is an
adopted child. She was abandoned by her gipsy mother in Transylvania, Romania.
She was taken by her adoptive parents to Beirut. They moved to London, where
Athena continues her education until university. There she meets a man that later
become her husband. She then divorce and lives with her son. When she became a
real-estate agent in Dubai, she learns calligraphy from a wise man in a desert.
She also goes back to Romania to find her birth mother. In her journey
there, she met Edda. A restaurant owner there shows her where she can meet her
birth mother. Seeing her birth mother, Athena’s question about her origin
answered. Back from Romania she learns so many things from Edda. Later Edda
asks Athena to be a teacher. Athena then become a teacher for a group of theater
players. This teaching activity makes Athena frustated and angry to Edda. Edda
calms Athena, then Athena continue become a teacher.
At her next teaching activity she becomes someone else called Hagia
Sofia. Through this form she is able to see what others can’t. This phenomena
makes people all over the country come to Portobello to follow her. However, this
phenomena also brings so many trouble for her because many people accuses her
as a witch. Finally, she decided to pretend that she is dead. Her boyfriend—a
detective from Scotland Yard, helped her to created a scenario that she had been
brutally murdered. Nobody realizes that actually she is still alive and continue her
life except the detective, her son, and her parents.
