The contribution of Mariaâ€™s characterization and past sexual experiences to her female orgasmic disorder as seen in Paulo Coelhoâ€™s Eleven Minutes - USD Repository

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AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

NI KETUT SRI BUDHI DWI MARLENI

Student Number: 064214045

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

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AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

NI KETUT SRI BUDHI DWI MARLENI

Student Number: 064214045

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

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Retimin for their never ending love and support. I also thank my two sisters, Ni Luh Sri Heliyanthi and Ni Nyoman Sri Vita Veni Fera for being sisters and best friends. Many thanks also go to my big family in Bali.

I dedicate my much appreciation to my advisor Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum., for her guidance in helping me to finish my thesis. I am also indebted to my co-advisor Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum., who has spent her time to read and revise my thesis. I would also say many thanks to lecturers and

staff of English Letters Department for the best education and services during my

study.

I would like to thank my loyal best companions: Panda “Blueboo” for always listening and never complaining, Elly “Big” Ecest and Happy “Little” Ecest for their much help. I am thankful to my Beo 20 friends: Mbak Oyo for the

Eleven Minutes novel, Mbak Susan, Devi, Elis, Titin, Febby, Intan, Fanny and

Cik San. I would also thank my classmates: Yosua for the journals, Sukma,

Tere, Gabe, Wulan, Gentur, Achied, and Mbak Meta.

I am grateful to Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa for the life I rent. Words are too atomic to describe His magnificence. Last, I thank everyone whose name

cannot be mentioned one by one down here.

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APPROVAL PAGE ... ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ... iii

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS ... iv

MOTTO PAGE ... v

DEDICATION PAGE... vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... viii

ABSTRACT ... x

ABSTRAK ... xi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1

A. Background of the Study ... 1

B. Problem Formulation ... 3

C. Objectives of the Study ... 4

D. Definition of Terms ... 4

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ... 8

A. Review of Related Studies ... 8

B. Review of Related Theories ... 10

1. Theory of Character and Characterization ... 10

2. The Concept of Sexuality ... 12

3. Theory of Girls’ Puberty ... 15

4. Theory of Sexual Activities ... 15

5. Theory of Sexual Dysfunction ... 18

C. Theoretical Framework ... 22

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 24

A. Object of the Study ... 24

B. Approach of the Study ... 25

C. Method of the Study ... 26

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ... 28

A. The Characterization of Maria ... 28

B. Maria’s Past Sexual Experiences ... 37

C. The Contribution of Maria’s Characterization and Past Sexual Experiences to Her Female Orgasmic Disorder ... 55

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 72

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Disorder as Seen in Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2010.

This thesis analyzes Paulo Coelho’s novel entitled Eleven Minutes. The writer discusses Maria, the main character in the novel, who suffers from female orgasmic dysfunction. Maria’s sexual experiences and behavior take the major part on her illness since they are related to her inability in reaching orgasm through sexual intercourse.

This study is aimed to solve three problems. The first problem is the characterization of Maria as the main character in the novel. The second problem is how Maria’s past sexual experiences are described and the last one is how Maria’s characterization and past sexual experiences contribute to her sexuality disorder.

The data of this research are Paulo Coelho’s novel entitled Eleven Minutes and other sources which are closely related to the study. Psychoanalytic approach is used in analyzing this study. The main character, Maria is examined by using psychoanalysis method to know how her mind, behavior and sexual instinct work.

This study finds that Maria is young woman who is beautiful. She is also a high motivated young woman. She has high curiosity on sexuality since she is unable to have orgasm through sexual intercourse. In her childhood and adolescence years, she has experienced a lot of sexual experiences such as falling in love, kissing, masturbating and love making. She is obsessed to the pleasure of masturbating. She works as a prostitute to have orgasm through sexual intercourse. However, she only has orgasm twice. The first orgasm she gets from her client, Terence who only rubs her clitoris and does not penetrate her. The second one also she gets from her client, Ralf Hart who penetrates her and rubs her clitoris as well. Both orgasms she gets are clitoral orgasms. She cannot achieve vaginal orgasm. Maria has a sexual disorder called Female Orgasmic

Disorder (FOD), when a woman cannot reach orgasm through sexual intercourse.

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Seen in Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2010.

Skripsi ini menganalisis novel Paulo Coelho yang berjudul Eleven

Minutes. Penulis mendiskusikan Maria, tokoh utama dalam novel ini, yang

mengalami disfungsi orgasme wanita. Pengalaman dan perilaku seksual Maria menjadi penyebab utama dalam ketidakmampuannya mencapai orgasme melalui hubungan seksual.

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memecahkan tiga permasalahan. Permasalahan pertama berkaitan dengan perwatakan Maria sebagai tokoh utama dalam novel. Permasalahan kedua berkaitan dengan penggambaran pengalaman seksual Maria di masa lalu dan permasalahan yang terakhir berkaitan dengan pengaruh perwatakan Maria dan pengalaman-pengalaman seksual tersebut terhadap kelainan seksualitasnya.

Data-data penelitian ini antara lain novel Eleven Minutes karya Paulo Coelho dan sumber-sumber lain yang erat kaitannya dengan penelitian ini. Pendekatan psikoanalisis diterapkan dalam analisis. Tokoh utama dalam novel yaitu Maria diteliti dengan metode psikoanalisis untuk mengetahui cara kerja pikiran, perilaku, dan insting seksualnya.

Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa Maria adalah seorang wanita muda yang cantik. Dia juga merupakan seorang wanita muda yang memiliki motivasi tinggi. Dia memiliki rasa penasaran yang tinggi dalam hal seksualitas karena dia tidak bisa orgasme melalui hubungan seksual. Di masa kanak-kanak dan remajanya, dia telah mengalami banyak pengalaman seksual seperti jatuh cinta, berciuman, bermasturbasi, dan bercinta. Dia terobsesi pada kenikmatan yang ia peroleh dari bermasturbasi. Dia bekerja sebagai seorang pekerja seksual untuk mendapat orgasme melalui hubungan seksual. Namun, dia hanya orgasme dua kali. Orgasme pertama didapatnya dari seorang klien, Terence yang hanya menggosok klitorisnya tanpa melakukan penetrasi. Orgasme kedua juga dia dapat dari kliennya, Ralf Hart yang melakukan penetrasi sekaligus menggosok klitorisnya. Kedua orgasme yang ia alami merupakan orgasme klitoral. Dia tidak bisa mendapatkan orgasme vaginal. Maria mengalami kelainan seksual yang disebut

Female Orgasmic Disorder (FOD), yaitu keadaan seorang wanita yang tidak

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A. Background of the Study

Literary works are the presentations of human life. The literary works may

reflect the readers’ personal life. They may reflect the readers’ psychological,

historical, and moral aspects of life. These reflections can be seen through the

characters in the story since the author mostly describes the characters like the real

human beings in the real life.

The characters that are made by the author should be able to convey the

author’s message to the readers. According to Perrine, the readers can see the

inner life of the characters because the author can tell the characters’ mind and

feelings to the readers (1974: 68). The readers learn more about human nature in

real life by reading literary works. The readers can also get much knowledge

about life such as how to solve problems, how to face life, and how to deal with

B. Problem Formulation

1. How is the characterization of Maria presented in Paulo Coelho’s Eleven

Minutes?

2. How are Maria’s past sexual experiences described?

3. How do Maria’s characterization and past sexual experiences contribute to

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C. Objectives of the Study

This study is discussing one of female sexual dysfunction caused by

childhood and adolescence sexual experiences. This study also shows how

previous sexual experiences can shape later sexual behavior as reflected by Maria,

the main character of Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes. Therefore, there are three

following primary objectives of this study.

The first objective is to identify Maria, the main character of the story.

This discussion points up Maria’s characterization in the novel in order to

recognize her qualities and personality. The second objective is to depict Maria’s

pas sexual experiences or childhood and adolescence sexual experiences. This

discussion illustrates the process of Maria having a sexual disorder. The third

objective is to understand the contribution of Maria’s characterization and past

sexual experiences to sexual disorder. This discussion illustrates how

characteristics of Maria and her past sexual experiences influence her to have a

sexual disorder.

D. Definition of Terms 1. Childhood

Childhood is a period of child by the time he or she reaches the age of

eighteen to twenty-four months and this period extends from infancy until puberty

(Braun and Linder, 1979: 228). In the book Human Sexuality in a World of

Diversity by Spencer A. Rathus, Jeffrey S. Nevid and Lois Fichner-Rathus,

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when the children experience puberty (2008: 411). These two definitions clearly

show us that childhood is the period of life extends from the age of three until

thirteen and this period stops when the children have their puberty.

2. Adolescence

Adolescence is a stage of life marked by the onset of puberty or the period

of sexual maturation (Braun and Linder, 1979: 236). Another definition of

adolescence comes from Fleming, in which he states that adolescence is a period

of life extends from the age of fifteen to the time of marriage at about 25, marked

by the awakening of the sex functions and the beginning of true social life (1955:

34). From these two definitions the writer concludes that the adolescence period is

a period which extends from age fifteen to age of 25 when someone grows into

maturity and experiences puberty or sexual maturation.

3. Adulthood

Braun and Linder in Psychology Today: an Introduction Fourth Edition,

states that:

Adulthood is the period of life that begins when we stop growing up and start growing old. It has also been characterized as a time during which the stable personality developed in childhood and adolescence continues to function without very much change (1979: 237).

This quotation means that adulthood is a period of life which happens after

someone experiencing adolescence period or puberty period. Someone is

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4. Sexual Behavior

According to Spencer A. Rathus, Jeffrey S. Nevid and Lois

Fichner-Rathus in the book Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity, sexual behavior is all

actions in heterosexual or homosexual engagements that cause sexual responses of

the body including solitary sexual behavior like masturbation; sexual behavior

with others such as foreplay, kissing, touching, stimulation of the breast and

oral-genital stimulation; and sexual fantasies (2008: 257-278). Meanwhile, Braun and

Linder state that sexual behavior is any sexual activities or practices vary with

people’s cultural and personal characteristics such as celibacy or complete

abstinence from sexual activity, masturbation or “playing with oneself activity”,

heterosexuality or a man and a woman stimulating each other sexually, and

homosexuality or sexual activity done by people with the same sex (1975:

393-395). These two definitions clearly show us that sexual behavior is all sexual

activities or practices done by people both in heterosexual and homosexual

relationship such as masturbation, kissing, and love-making.

5. Female Orgasmic Disorder

Braun and Linder in Psychology Today: an Introduction Fourth Edition

say this female orgasmic dysfunction as the situation of women who experience

orgasms sometimes through certain kinds of stimulation (such as masturbation)

but not in other circumstances in which they would like to (typically during sexual

intercourse) (1979: 392). Jim Smith in his book Abnormal Behaviors: Outlined

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are unable to experience orgasms under any circumstances (1975: 137). These

quotations say that female orgasmic dysfunction is the inability of women to have

orgasms in sexual intercourse, but they can have orgasms when they are

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A. Review of Related Studies

Paulo Coelho is one of the most famous authors in the world. He writes a

lot of novels which have been translated into many languages. He writes The

Alchemist, Veronica Decides to Die, Brida, etc. A lot of his books have been

translated into more than 61 languages and have been read in more than 150

countries. Most of his books have become the subject of social and culture debate

because his ideas about philosophy and subject matter in his book touch the

aspirations of millions people who want to find their identities (Martin and

Ballesteros, http://www.santjordi.asociados.com/news03.htm; 12 October 2009).

Eleven Minutes is his novel published in 2003 and it became a global best

seller in 2005 in many countries except United States. The reason why Coelho has

not a big hit in America on Eleven Minutes is that the American Publishing

Market is too broad and too shallow, meanwhile American people do not read

much and they are satisfied with what they get at home

(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1843950, 12 October

2009).

However, many people love reading Eleven Minutes because it inspires a

lot of people to love and be loved, and also have dreams. Eleven Minutes is also

highly recommended to be read. Eli Bendersky, in an article titled “A Book

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well, it’s readable and flows quickly. It talks about certain life philosophies, with

the main theme being the search of the main character for the meaning of life. Not

surprising that Coelho’s books are such bestsellers. They read and tie you down

like a soap-opera, and leave you with a certain imprint of profoundness

(http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2003/12/26/book-review-eleven-minutes-by-paulo-coelho/).” Eleven Minutes is one of his best novels which tells about Maria, a

young Brazilian girl who works as a prostitute. This novel is based on true story

of a Brazilian prostitute, her marriages, her problems with the law, and her various

adventures.

Antono in his thesis “Love and Sexual Dysfunction: A Psychological

Study of Maria in Paulo Coelho Eleven Minutes” emphasizes that the absence of

love is the cause of Maria’s sexual dysfunction. “Maria gets the multiple

pleasures; pleasure from the economically, sexually, and love. Her dream comes

true and her desire is satisfied. Therefore, the absence of love in her life causes her

sexual dysfunction” (2006: 54).

Ingrid Calderon in her article titled “Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes: A

novel Battling Love and Sex” states that

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Calderon has almost the same opinion as Antono that love is the important

thing in Maria’s life. Love plays important role in Maria’s life since love leads

her up to happy life. Love helps Maria in finding her soul mate who shares the

same light of love with her. By having love in her heart, Maria can reach what she

wants and she can find her long lost soul.

The writer tries to analyze Eleven Minutes from the psychological point of

view. The discussion focuses on the intrinsic elements of the novel. The intrinsic

elements of the novel which are discussed are the character and characterization

of Maria. This research will be different from Calderon’s discussion which

focuses on the role of love in Maria’s life. This research will also be different

from Antono’s discussion because he states that the cause of Maria’s sexual

dysfunction is the absence of love. However, the writer would like to analyze the

contribution of Maria’s characterization and past sexual experiences in shaping

Maria’s adult sexual behavior. The writer would like to gain deeper on the process

of Maria having sexual dysfunction. Therefore, this research will be different from

others.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

Character in the story holds a significant role in a novel. How the story

flows and what it tells about can be viewed from the character. The readers can

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story. However, the readers should also have a good understanding on what a

character is.

M.H. Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms states that a character is a

distinctive type of person presented in literary works with witty short name whose

dialogue and action are their expressions of moral, dispositional, and emotional

qualities (1985: 23). A character has his or her action and dialogue to show the

characteristics and to express their mind and feeling so that the readers can

capture the essence of the story. A character should have the ability to represent

the content of the story. The character is the reflection of the story. It means the

story can be easily seen from how the characters express their mind and feeling

through the dialogue.

According to Barnet and Berman in Literature for Composition, we have

to focus on personality, traits, and characteristics in writing about character (1988:

77). We can easily conclude the author’s description of the character’s physical

appearance and personality. We have to know several things to get the character

personality i.e. what the character says and does, and what the other characters say

about the character.

Abrams also states that there is character called a round character:

A round character is complex in temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle particularly; such a character therefore is as difficult to describe with any adequacy as a person in real life, and like real person, is capable of surprising us (1985: 24).

Abrams says that a character can change because he or she has motivation

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they behave like human being. They are like the people in the real life. The

authors may take some ordinary real people behavior into the characteristics of

their characters. Therefore, we may often find the characters in the story that

resemble the people around us.

According to Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods Jr., in Reading and

Writing about Literature, characterization is the process by which the author

creates a character (1971: 20). It means characterization is a process when the

author gives the explanation about the character by describing his or her physical

appearance, they way he or she behaves, and the way he or she speaks.

Holman and Harmon in A Handbook of Literature (1986: 81) state that

there are three basic techniques of characterization. First, the author’s explicit

explanation of the character through direct exposition, second the character

presentation in action with little or no explicit comment by the author, and third

the presentation within the character without the author’s comment on the

character. The presentation or the explanation on the character can be found in the

introductory block or more often gradually throughout the work illustrated by

action.

2. The Concept of Sexuality

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory has been used worldwide to predict

neurosis suffered by people, especially sexuality neurosis or sexual dysfunctions.

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, as quoted by Hershel D. Thornburg in

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development through adolescence to adulthood are in the successful and

unsuccessful resolution of childhood developmental stages (1982: 33). It means

that childhood developmental stages can give impact to adolescence and

adulthood development.

Thornburg states that Freud constructed five stages of development

ranging from birth to late adolescence (1982: 33-35). They are first, oral stage

which ranges from birth to 1 year, is the primary erogenous zone where children

generally experience pleasure by sucking response or stimulating the lips and

tongue during feeding periods and especially by coming into physical contact with

mother. Second, anal stage or pregenital stage which ranges from 2 years to 3

years, is the zone where children mature physiologically enough to be able to

control the anal sphincter, thus withholding the feces at will, and toilet training

will encourage children to learn how to regulate their reflexive impulses. Third,

phallic stage which begins between 3 and 4, is characterized by erotic stimulation

of the penis or the clitoris and this behavior is basically curiosity. Fourth, latency

stage which begins around 6 years to 7 years of age, is the periods when children

begin to learn the prohibitions against oral, anal, and genital stimulation. Last,

genital stage which ranges from 13 years to 18 and beyond, is the reawakening

period of libidinal interests in the individual, and the sexual exploration of one’s

own genitals (masturbation) or the genitals of a member of the same sex or

opposite sex arouses much stronger sexual feelings than in any stage before

puberty. These explanations mean that human sexual behavior actually starts at

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Hershel D. Thornburg in Development in Adolescence also quotes Freud’s

theory on id, ego, and superego which play important role in human sexuality.

Freud believed that these stages originate in sexual instinct, which he called the id. (Freud’s concept of the id is a striking parallel to Plato’s idea of desires and appetites as the instinctual part of human nature). Further, he believed that this sexual instinct is the primary factor in determining whether the individual’s personality development will be normal. In the addition to the id, Freud postulated the ego and superego. The ego is the rational, civilized, reality oriented part of man. Because it has executive function, it can control or modify the instinctual urges. The ego also has coping the mechanisms for dealing with the environment. The superego, commonly referred to as the conscience, may assist the ego by defining socially acceptable attitudes and behaviors (1982: 33).

To sum up, the id is the uncoordinated or the unconscious mind that

contains the basic drives such as sex. The id searches for the satisfaction of

instinctual needs. The ego is the reality-oriented part of mind. The ego seeks to

please the id’s drives in realistic ways. The superego plays the critical and

moralizing role. The superego works in contradiction to the id. The super-ego

strives to act in a socially appropriate manner, whereas the id just wants instant

self-gratification. The superego controls our sense of right and wrong and guilt.

Human sexual behavior is the under control of the individual’s sexual instinct or

id, rational part or ego, and conscience or superego. These three things occur right

from the early childhood and continue to adulthood. Therefore, the individual’s

sexual development through adolescence to adulthood has its roots in the

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3. Theory of Girls’ Puberty

According to John Janeway Conger in the book Adolescence and Youth:

Psychological Development in a Changing World, females puberty begins with

the gradual enlargement ovaries and such related organs as the uterus (1977: 103).

The onset of sexual maturation is accompanied by growth spurt in height and

weight. In puberty, females’ sex hormones such as estrogens and progestins are

activated. Besides, girls also experienced changes in body proportion. The parts of

the body that achieve adult size and form earliest are head, hands, and feet. In

turn, increases in arm and leg length and the last is trunk length. By the age of 17

the average girl’s bones should be mature not only in size but also in ossification.

Another symbol of sexual maturation in females is the menstruation. The

cyclical bleeding that stems from the shedding of the uterine lining or

endometrium is called as menstruation (Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus, 2008:

82). Menstruation is commonly experienced by girls as the sign of puberty.

Usually the girls experience the first menstruation between the age of thirteen and

fifteen. The average of girls’ monthly menstruation is 28 days. Girls’ cycles are

often irregular for a few years, but later assume regular patterns.

4. Theory of Sexual Activities

Sexual activities are all actions that cause sexual responses of the body

such as masturbating, kissing and touching (Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus,

2008: 257-278). The sexual activities are widely done by people in various culture

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Eleven Minutes because it is the main topic in the story. The idea of sexuality is

talked much in the novel. He represents the issue of sexuality vulgarly, however

the story flows well yet it is a beautiful story. The novel shows us the significance

of previous sexual experiences for the later sexual behavior. People, in the early

age of childhood, have already concerned about their sexuality, especially on their

genitals. “Genitals are functioned as reproduction organs which can become a

focus of interest of a child (Seward, 1954: 128)”. This statement implies that

children usually have high curiosity on their body. Genitals are organs that are

interesting to them and can be their concentration of interest.

The novel talks a lot about masturbation activity. Paulo Coelho openly

discusses how the main character of his novel commits masturbation. According

to Georgene H. Seward in the book Sex and the Social Order masturbation is a

form of “auto-eroticism” which is widely practiced (1954: 151). This quotation

means that masturbation is one of sexual activities that can be done or practiced

easily. Male and female can masturbate without any meaningful obstacles. No

matter who they are or how old they are, people can masturbate anywhere

anytime.

There are various techniques in doing masturbation. Female masturbation

vary widely, most women masturbate by massaging the mons, labia minora, and

clitoral region with circular or back and forth with their fingers, stroking the shaft

rather than the glans (Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus, 2008: 262-263).

Sometimes, many women insert things or objects into their vagina when they are

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The other sexual activities talked in Eleven Minutes are falling in love,

kissing, and love making. The experience of falling in love or romantic love is one

kind of sexual activities because when people fall in love there is such a strong

sexual arousal along with a romanticized image of the object of their desires

(Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus, 2008: 211). The concept of romantic love

may begin with hearing some fairy tales in which there are always prince

charming and beautiful princess.

Kissing is almost universal in western culture. Couples may kiss for their

own pleasure or as a part of foreplay (Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus, 2008:

266). In simple kissing, couples may only touch their lips and keep them closed.

This simple kiss may develop into caresses of the lips with the tongues.

Love making or sexual intercourse is another form of sexual activities

done by a man and a woman, in which the penis is inserted into the vagina

(Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus, 2008: 272). Sexual intercourse is now widely

done by people at any ages, both young and old people. There are many reasons

for intercourse. According to Browning as quoted by Rathus, Nevid, and

Fichner-Rathus, motives for intercourse including love, desire for pleasure, conformity to

peer norms, peer recognition, and even the desire to dominate someone are

involved in sexual activity (2008: 426). Young people or teens who decide to have

sexual intercourse earlier are less likely to use contraception. They are also more

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5. Theory of Sexual Dysfunction

The sexual experiences which are experienced by people in their

childhood or adolescence influence their adult sexual behavior. The sexual

experience such as the experience in masturbating will have effects on their sexual

behavior. The effects will be stronger if the sexual activity is done in a good

frequency. Someone’s sexual behavior when he or she was a child or teenager

which is done in a good frequency can influence his or her later sexual behavior.

There are a lot of past sexual habit effects; one of them is sexual

dysfunctions or sexual disorders. Female orgasmic dysfunction (FOD) is one of

those sexual dysfunctions. Jim Smith in his book Abnormal Behaviors: Outlined

Reference states that female orgasmic dysfunction is the problem in which women

are unable to experience orgasms under any circumstances (1975: 137). This

statement says that female orgasmic dysfunction is the inability of women to have

orgasms in any situations.

Braun and Linder in Psychology Today: an Introduction Fourth Edition

say this female orgasmic dysfunction as:

The expression secondary or situational orgasmic dysfunction refers to the situation of women who experience orgasms sometimes through certain kinds of stimulation (such as masturbation) but not in other circumstances in which they would like to (typically during sexual intercourse) (1979: 392).

This quotation says that masturbation is always being the easiest way to

have orgasms and actually women really would like to experience orgasms in a

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dysfunction happened when women cannot have orgasms in sexual intercourse,

but they can when they are masturbating.

According to Davison and Neale, there are four categories of sexual

dysfunction, they are: sexual desire disorders, sexual arousal disorders, orgasm

disorders, and sexual pain disorders. This research focuses on the orgasm

disorders. According to the book Abnormal Psychology by Davison and Neale

(1996: 364-372) there are three categories of orgasm disorders. First, Male

Orgasm Disorder is problems of ejaculating during intercourse, anal intercourse,

masturbation, and manual or manipulation by partner. Second, Premature

Ejaculation is when a man was unable to inhibit his orgasm long enough for his

partner to climax in 50% of their sexual encounter. Third, Female Orgasm

Disorder refers to female dysfunction or inability to reach orgasm after a period of

normal excitement.

Research done by Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus finds out that

orgasmic disorders are more common experienced by women than men (2008:

478). Women are steadily delayed in reaching orgasm or they do not reach orgasm

at all. They also may not reach orgasm through any means such as masturbation,

sexual intercourse, and other genital stimulations.

There are some symptoms of female orgasmic disorder. After a normal

phase of sexual excitement, the woman's orgasm is persistently or repeatedly

delayed or absent. Women who experience the disorder may become very highly

sexually aroused during masturbation or intercourse. However, despite this

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this is based on her sexual experience, adequacy of foreplay and norms for her

age. The other symptoms are painful sexual intercourse, lack of vaginal

lubrication, and lack of sexual interest (Lewis, 2004: 38-39).

There are at least three main causes of orgasmic disorders; they are

biological causes, psychosocial causes, and past sexual habits. Biological causes

are causes related to the physical conditions such as reduction of testosterone

level, surgically removal of adrenal glands, erectile difficulties, fatigue, and

diabetes mellitus (Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus, 2008: 482). It means that

healthy physical condition is very important to prevent orgasmic disorders.

Psychosocial causes consist of psychological condition and social

relationship. The most common psychological cause is anxiety including anxiety

over being evaluated negatively, anxiety involving fears of pleasure or fears of

injury (Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus, 2008: 484). This convinces us that

psychological problem like anxiety may reduce sexual desire. Meanwhile, social

factors include relationship among children and parents, peers, and relationship

between couples (Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus, 2008: 484-485). Children

and parents, peers, and couples should have a good communication about

sexuality, sexual orientation, or sexual desire so that they can have good and right

information about sex.

Many women and men who are exposed to negative attitudes about sex

during childhood and adolescence may have difficulties to view sex as a source of

pleasure as adults (Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus, 2008: 484). The childhood

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adults. A woman who reaches orgasm through masturbation, and she has done this

for a long time, may not reach orgasm during sexual intercourse.

The research done by Davison and Neale finds out that the lack of sexual

education also plays a great role in female orgasmic disorder (1996: 370). Many

women who never achieve orgasm during penetrative sex are not aware of their

genitals anatomy. Thus, they get trouble to know what their needs in sexuality are.

Meanwhile, Ronald J. Comer in Abnormal Psychology 4th Edition says that female

orgasmic disorder is caused by society’s message to women that they have to hold

back and deny their sexuality. Many women with female orgasmic disorder

testimonies state that they have strict religious background, they receive no

grounding for the onset of puberty and menstruation, and they are punished for

childhood masturbation (2001: 398).

It is also important to understand what actually orgasm is. According to a

theory from Masters and Johnsons which is quoted by Barbara Keesling, Orgasm

is marked by the release of tension and the individual’s sexual pleasure peaks and

blood flow to the pelvis reach a peak and when the pubococcygeal muscle group

that supports the pelvic floor spasm rhythmically at 0.8 second intervals ant the

heart rate accelerates rapidly and then slows down

(http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20021002-000032.htm).

Keesling also states that arousal and orgasm is good for mental health

because they cause the release of pleasure –inducing endorphins in the brain, they

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Orgasm is not the same for men and women since they have different physical and

psychological conditions.

Sigmund Freud, as quoted by Thornburg, divides orgasm into two types.

First is clitoral orgasm which female infants and children can achieve by

stimulating the clitoris (masturbate) and experience the sensations of orgasm.

Second is vaginal orgasm which can be experienced by adult women during

sexual intercourse. It is an indication of psychological immaturity when adult

women fail to achieve vaginal orgasm (1982: 36).

C. Theoretical Framework

Theory of character is taken from books titled A Glossary of Literary

Terms by M. H. Abrams, and Literature for Composition by Barnet and Berman.

Theory of characterization is taken from books titled Reading and Writing about

Literature by Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods Jr., and A Handbook of

Literature by Holman and Harmon. The theory of character and characterization

help the writer to explain about the understanding of character and

characterization in the novel Eleven Minutes, and to have basic understanding to

answer the first problem formulation.

The concept of sexuality taken from Freud’s psychoanalytic theory as

quoted by Hershel D. Thornburg in his book Development of Adolescence, the

theories of girls’ puberty by Conger and Rathus, Nevid and Fichner-Rathus, and

theories of sexual activities which are mostly taken from Rathus, Nevid and

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Fichner-Rathus are applied to help the writer to answer the second problem formulation

which is about how Maria’s past sexual experiences are described and also to

answer the third problem formulation which is about how Maria’s characterization

and past sexual experiences influence adult sexual behavior. Meanwhile, theories

of sexual dysfunction from Seward, Braun and Linder, Fleming, and also Master

and Johnson’s theory quoted by Keesling are applied in this study to help the

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24

A. Object of the Study

Eleven Minutes is the object of this study. Eleven Minutes is a fiction book

and is published by Harper Collins Publisher in 2003. The book consists of 271

pages translated from Portuguese version which is titled Onze Minutos into

English by Margaret Jull Costa.

The author of Eleven Minutes is Paulo Coelho. He was born in Brazil and

today he is known as the most widely read author. Eleven Minutes is his ninth

fiction book. Paulo Coelho is one of the most beloved authors nowadays. With

sales of more than 75 million copies worldwide, his books have been translated

into more than 60 languages and published in 150 countries. He is the recipient of

numerous prestigious international awards, among them the Crystal Award by the

World Economic Forum, and Germany's Bambi 2001 Award. He was inducted

into the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 2002. Paulo Coelho also writes a weekly

column syndicated throughout the world.

Eleven Minutes tells the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian

village, who has a lot of sexual experiences since she is a little girl. A chance

meeting in Rio de Janeiro takes her to Geneva, where she dreams of finding

popularity and fortune. However, she ends up working as a prostitute. In Geneva,

Maria tries her best to be a professional prostitute. Meanwhile, she also tries to

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then meets two clients who can give her orgasm. Those clients are Terence and

Ralf Hart. In the end of the story, Maria decides to get married to Ralf Hart, a rich,

famous young painter since Ralf Hart loves her and knows where to touch part of

her body to give her the pleasure.

B. Approach of the Study

The approach applied in this study is psychoanalytic approach. Peter Barry

in Beginning Theory: An Introduction Literary and Cultural Theory the Second

Edition states that A psychoanalytic approach is a form of literary approach which

uses some psychoanalysis techniques in the literature interpretation (2002: 96).

Meanwhile, according to Sigmund Freud in his book A General Introduction to

Psychoanalysis, psychoanalysis is a method of treating nervous patients medically

(1920: 1). In literature, we treat the object of the study as the patient that we

analyze using psychoanalysis approach so that in the end we may find out the

illness suffered. Psychoanalysis investigates conscious and unconscious elements

in the mind. This approach considers the literary work itself as the patient who is

allowed to talk freely, so that the withdrawn fears and conflicts that are the cause

of the problems are brought into the conscious mind. This approach works based

on the theories of how the mind, the instincts, and sexuality work.

The main character of the novel, Maria, will be examined using

psychoanalytic approach to reveal how her mind, instinct, and her sexuality work.

So that later on we know how her previous sexual activities influence her later

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means for psychoanalytic interpretation. The psychoanalytic approach helps the

writer to interpret the psychoanalytic aspects of the main character in the novel.

The study explains the main character that involves patterns of behavior, feeling

and thought.

C. Method of the Study

In order to reach the objectives of the study, the writer used library

research to collect the needed theories. The primary data was Paulo Coelho’s

novel entitled Eleven Minutes. The theories were taken from the other sources

which were closely related to the study such as internet, and other books:

Fleming’s Adolescence, Braun and Linder’s Psychology Today: an Introduction

Fourth Edition, Seward’s Sex and Social Order, Abrams’s Glossary of Literary

Terms: Sixth Edition, Ronald J. Comer’s Abnormal Psychology 4th Edition,

Davison and Neale’s Abnormal Psychology 6th Edition, Rathus, Nevid, and

Fichner-Rathus’s Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity, Lawrence Perrine’s

Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory: An

Introduction Literary and Cultural Theory the Second Edition, etc.

The first step in analyzing the novel was reading the novel more than once

to know and understand the whole content of the novel. The novel here was

Eleven Minutes which was written by a Brazilian author Paulo Coelho. The writer

analyzed the main character, Maria and her characterization. The second step was

referring some references that were related to the studies Eleven Minutes and the

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sexual dysfunction. The writer analyzed Maria and her characterization by using

theory of character and characterization. Meanwhile, the theory of sexual

dysfunction was to analyze the sexual dysfunction suffered by Maria. The third

step was applying the psychoanalytic approach in order to answer and analyze the

problems formulated in this study. The last step was composing a conclusion from

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28

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS

A. The Characterization of Maria

In Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes, Maria is the main character of the

story. There are some descriptions of Maria given by the narrator and the minor

characters. Maria is described as a beautiful young woman. She has a beautiful

face and a sensual body. She is also characterized as a highly motivated woman.

She works hard to fulfill her dreams and her obsession. Besides, she is described

as a woman who has high curiosity on sexuality. Her biggest obsession of sex is to

find the excitement in making love since she cannot get the pleasure while she is

penetrated. She suffers from Female Orgasmic Disorder (FOD), a sexual disorder

in which women cannot achieve orgasm through sexual intercourse. Maria fails to

have vaginal orgasm during sexual intercourse. Her sexuality developmental stage

is still at the phallic stage or infantile stage. It means that she can only experience

orgasm through masturbation. This first part of analysis will depict Maria’s

characterization. Maria is described as a beautiful, highly motivated woman. She

has high curiosity on sexuality which develops into obsession. Maria’s description

of her physical appearance and personality will be put in the context of sexuality,

on how she uses her beauty, motivation, and curiosity to find out her long lost

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1. Beautiful

Maria, in the story, is a beautiful Brazilian woman. It is said, “And so

Maria’s adolescence years passed. She grew prettier and prettier (2003: 15)”. The

narrator also says, “She got up in all the beauty and intensity of her nakedness and

poured two glasses of wine (2003: 186)”. Maria also describes herself as an

attractive woman. “She knew how attractive she was, and although she rarely

listened to her mother, there was one thing her mother said that she never forgot:

‘Beauty, my dear, doesn’t last’ (2003: 17)”. Maria knows that she is beautiful and

many men are attracted to her because of her beauty. “She never let him touch her,

although she was very coquettish, conscious of the power of her beauty (2003:

17)”. She is very sure that she is a beautiful Brazilian girl. It is said on these lines,

“She was a girl from the backlands of Brazil, with no experience of life apart from

a good school, a vast knowledge of TV soaps and the certainty that she was

beautiful (2003: 29)”.

The minor characters in the story also describe Maria’s beauty. One of the

minor characters that says Maria is a beautiful woman is Roger. Maria meets

Roger when she enjoys her vacation in Copacabana. “Until the man took a small

red dictionary out of his pocket and said, in a strange accent: ‘bonita’ – ‘pretty’

(2003: 20)”. Mailson, the security officer of the hotel also tells Maria that she is

pretty. Mailson says, “Of course, he hasn’t seen you sing or dance, but you could

learn all that, whereas beauty is something you’re born with (2003: 23-24)”.

Another minor character who says that Maria is beautiful is the Arab man.

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when he meets Maria in a restaurant. Meanwhile, Ralf Hart, the man who falls in

love with Maria and is loved by Maria sees Maria’s inner beauty. Ralf Hart says

that he sees the light of Maria. “You have a glow about you. The light that comes

from sheer willpower, the light of someone who has made important sacrifices in

the name of things she thinks are important. It’s in your eyes – the light is in your

eyes (2003: 107)”.

Maria’s characterization is in accord with Holman and Harmon’s theory

that says there are three basic techniques of characterization. First, the narrator has

explicit explanation on Maria’s character, second Maria’s presentation in action,

and the last is the testimonies from the minor characters. By those techniques of

characterization, we can see easily conclude the author’s description of Maria’s

physical appearance and personality.

From the explanation above it can be seen that Maria is a beautiful woman

and her beauty can attract many men. Other people also say that she is very pretty

and they are attracted to her beauty. She also has a light in herself which shines

and shows her inner beauty. She knows how to use her beauty. Since she knows

that she has a beautiful face and a sensual body, she decides to work as a model.

She is very sure that there will be one agency attracted to her beauty and

sensuality. However, she finally works as a prostitute and uses her beauty to

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2. Highly Motivated

Maria is also described as a highly motivated woman. She is a woman

with high motivation to live happily. She will do everything to fulfill what she

wants. The fact that she is a highly motivated woman is seen in the following

lines:

She worked for two years solidly. Paid money each month to her parents for her keep, and at last, she did it. She saved enough money to go and spend a week’s holiday in the city of her dreams, the place where film and TV stars live, the picture postcard image of her country: Rio de Janeiro! (2003: 18).

She is very motivated to make her dreams come true. She works hard and

saves some of her salary to meet her dream. She really wants to go to Rio de

Janeiro, a place she never visits. Finally she can go to Rio de Janeiro. In this city,

she meets Roger, the Swiss man who takes her to Geneva to be one of his samba

dancers. In Rio de Janeiro for the first time she learns that people pay for her

beauty. This is her starting point that leads her to be a prostitute.

When Maria arrives in Geneva as a samba dancer, she does not understand

the language people talk with and those people around her do not understand

every word she says either. Then she tries hard to learn the local language. “The

following day, she enrolled in a French course that was run in the mornings, and

there she met people of all creeds, beliefs and ages (2003: 45)”. Speaking with the

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Since she quits working as a samba dancer, she tries to find another job.

She wants to earn much money so that she can go back home to Brazil with

success and much money. The following lines show how Maria tries to find job:

The following day, started doing the rounds of the agencies. They all told her that she needed to get some professional photos taken, but this, after all, was an investment in her career – dreams don’t come cheap (2003: 47-48).

Maria is really motivated to have a good job with good salary. She tries to

send her resume and photographs to some model agencies in the hope that they

would be interested in her beauty. Then Maria decides to be a prostitute. She

thinks it is easy to get money by being a prostitute, besides she wants to find her

long lost excitement in sex: orgasm.

3. Highly Curious

Maria is described as a young woman who has high curiosity on many

things, such as curiosity on place she does not know, on new terms she has just

heard of, on the reasons why women decide to be a prostitute, and curiosity on

why she has to pretend that she has orgasm. Her high curiosity is her nature since

she is a little girl. She tries to discover by herself the answers of all questions she

has. It is not only her nature that she becomes a curios girl, but also the value of

her neighborhood which is introvert especially on sexuality makes her have high

curiosity on it.

Since the first night Maria works in Copacabana club, she is curios on the

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to ask the most reliable reasons why her friends in the club of Copacabana choose

the job as prostitutes. It is stated in the following lines:

She heard nothing new, but she made a list of their responses. They said they had to help out their husband (wasn’t he jealous? What if one of her husband’s friends came to the club one night? But Maria didn’t dare to ask this questions), that they wanted to buy a house for their mother (her own excuse, apparently so noble, and the most common one), to earn enough money for their fare home (Colombians, Thais, Peruvians, Brazilians all loved this reason even though they had earned enough money several times over and had immediately spent it, afraid to realise their dreams), to have fun (this didn’t really tally with the atmosphere in the club, and always rang false), they couldn’t find any other kind of work (this wasn’t a good reason either, Switzerland was full of jobs for cleaners, drivers and cooks) (2003: 78).

Maria asks her friends in Copacabana one by one. She finds out various

reasons. She wants to find her friends’ reasons and wants to know the real reason

of her own. She does not know her own reason why she has to work as a

prostitute. Maria thinks it is just about easy money she can have by being a

prostitute. “Money was one motivation, she thought, but was that all? (2003: 73)”.

She asks herself whether she is searching for money since she can get money

easily by opening her legs. But she feels that it is not the authentic reason. She

keeps thinking why she comes to this way of life.

Apart from that, she tried desperately to be the best, to earn a lot of money in as short a time as possible, to think very little and to find a good reason for doing what she was doing.

That was the most difficult part: what was the real reason? (2003: 77).

She keeps trying to find the reason why she works as a prostitute, though it

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earn a lot of money. She still thinks that she works as a prostitute to earn enough

money so that she can make her parents happy.

On her childhood and adolescence years, Maria has many experiences on

sexuality that make her have greater curiosity on it. She is so obsessed on

sexuality because she has an anxiety on it. She is anxious why she cannot kiss her

boyfriends so well, why she really enjoys the moment she touches her genitals

meanwhile she cannot have orgasm through a sexual intercourse. Therefore, since

she is obsessed and anxious, she tries to find out the answer by herself. She kisses

with her boyfriends and makes love with them. She wants to find out the

excitement of having sexual intercourse. She wants to have orgasm and its

sensation like the orgasm she has through masturbation.

One day her boyfriend kisses her with less excitement. This happens after

her boyfriend tries to put his tongue into her lips but Maria just closes her mouth

and teeth. But the boy considers it as a refusal then he stops kissing her, and

makes Maria wonder why. Then she asks her girl friends’ opinions about her first

kiss and why her boyfriend does not kiss her with full excitement. She told the

details of her first kiss to her girlfriends, but one of them laughed at her.

‘Didn’t you open your mouth?’

Suddenly everything became clear—his question, his disappointment. ‘What for?’

‘To let him put his tongue inside.’ ‘What difference does it make?’

‘It’s not something you can explain. That’s just how people kiss.’ (2003: 9-10).

This quotation shows us how Maria then understands what happens to her

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how to kiss someone. This event leads Maria to know more about kissing activity.

She goes dating with many boys and always learns how to give her boyfriends a

good kiss.

Once Maria knows about masturbation, she talks to her friends about her

marvelous experience. She is the one who has the bravery to raise the subject

among her peers. Her inquisitiveness starts to disturb her. Then she asks to her

friends their most favorite technique. “It was Maria’s turn to feel like a

revolutionary, to be the leader of the group, inventing an absurd ‘secret

confessions’ game, which involved asking everyone their favorite method of

masturbation (2003: 12)”. Maria feels as the leader, she can ask anything to her

friends to fulfill her own curiosity. Her friends tell her many various techniques

which they use when they are masturbating.

Maria never feels satisfied. She never stops trying to answer every

curiosity in her mind. “Anyway, once she had discovered masturbation and used a

few of the techniques suggested by her friends (2003: 13)”. This proves that she

tries to apply the techniques suggested by her friends when she has masturbation.

Since she wants to know more about pleasure, she tries to learn to touch and to be

touched by her boyfriends. “And when she was alone with her boyfriends, she

touched them and allowed them to be touched, but something always went wrong

(2003: 13)”. She wants to know how it feels to touch boys and to be touched by

them. However, she always feels there is something wrong in it and there is

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tries to go dating with one boy and another. She touches them, and they touch her.

She tries to know where the pleasure is.

Maria is still full of curiosity and question about having sex with a partner

since she never gets satisfied by her boyfriend. Her curiosity on orgasm turns into

obsession. She really wants to have orgasm when she is penetrated. She tries and

keeps trying to get the pleasure. She will do everything to answer the question in

her head, as stated in the following line: “She made love with the same boy a few

more times (2003: 15)”. She becomes an obsessive young woman who always

searches for orgasm in making love activity. She even threats her boyfriends to

make love with her just to learn what pleasure she can get by having sex with a

partner.

As a prostitute, Maria has had sex with many men. However, she still

cannot have the pleasure when she has sexual intercourse with partners. In order

to know what happens to her, she goes to library where she can borrow books to

be read at her unoccupied time, it is stated as follow:

Maria read the index of one of these books and immediately returned it: they said nothing about happiness, they talked only about dull things such as erection, penetration, impotence, precautions…. She did for a moment consider borrowing The Psychology of Frigidity Women, since, in her own case, although she very much enjoyed being possessed and penetrated by a man, she only ever reached orgasm through masturbation (2003: 65).

This short passage shows us how Maria really wants to know why she

cannot get the pleasure she has when she masturbates. She is obsessed on the

pleasure she gets by masturbating. Maria even watches several porn movies. She

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more satisfaction to her clients. “And no orgasm either, no pleasure or excitement.

In her search to be the very best, Maria had watched a few porn movies (2003:

84)”. She tries to please herself. She really wants to do the best for herself in

giving herself pleasure.

From the explanation above it can be concluded that Maria is a beautiful,

highly motivated young woman. She has high curiosity on many things, especially

on sexuality. Her biggest curiosity is on orgasm. She is anxious why she cannot

have orgasm while being penetrated by men. She wonders why she only gets the

pleasure through masturbation. These facts make her obsessed the feeling. She is

obsessed to have orgasm through sexual intercourse. She commits everything to

know the answer why she cannot have orgasm and to know how she can achieve

the pleasure in sexual intercourse.

B. Maria’s Past Sexual Experiences

Maria’s past sexual experiences are divided into two. They are childhood

sexual experiences and adolescence sexual experiences. Maria’s childhood and

adolescence sexual experiences are not quite different. She has thought of

sexuality in her childhood years, for example she has had the idea of love and

fallen in love in her childhood years. She also has ever done masturbating in her

early age. In her childhood years, she thinks that sexual activity only includes

sexual intercourse. She does not understand that sexual activity is not only about

sexual intercourse but also activities like masturbating and falling in love. She

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parents think that sexuality is forbidden to talk about. Maria considers sex as a

sacred activity which must be done under a sacred marriage. She is a pious child

whose church implies that sexual intercourse before marriage is the greatest sin.

Her adolescence years come up with many more sexual experiences. She

does not only kiss, but also makes love with her boyfriends. She also rediscovers

masturbation, an activity she has ever done in her childhood moments. She learns

many techniques of masturbation from her girlfriends. She finds the enormous

pleasure of masturbating. She finds orgasm. Since she knows about masturbation

and orgasm, she abandons the idea of sacred sex and religious idea about it. She

makes love with her boyfriend in order to find the pleasure she gets by

masturbating. However, she cannot make it. She cannot have orgasm through

sexual intercourse. She, then, becomes obsessed on orgasm through penetrative

sex.

1. Childhood Sexual Experiences

Childhood according to Braun and Linder is a period of a child extends

from infancy until puberty. Maria experiences puberty at the age of thirteen. It can

be concluded that from her infancy stage until she is twelve years old are her

childhood years. Maria’s sexual experience in childhood can be seen when she is

eleven years old. She starts falling in love with a boy in her school and who lives

in her neighborhood. Although they share the same road to the school they never

speak to each other. Maria is too shy to say words to the boy. Meanwhile, the boy

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She fell in love for the first time when she was eleven, en route from her house to school. On the first day of term, she discovered that she was not alone on her way to school: making the same journey was a boy who lived in her neighborhood and who shared the same timetable (2003: 1-2).

Maria feels so tortured when she falls in love with the boy since they have

never spoken each other. This makes her feel the days far too long. Maria feels so

bored with her days at school. She does not know what she has to do to pass the

day quickly. The following lines show Maria’s feeling:

Given that the hours pass more slowly for a child