Love, Lust and Life: An Analysis of Paulo Coelho’s Adultery (Published)
There is absolutely no worse death curse than the humdrum daily existence of the living dead,” says Anthon St. Maarten, which is the predicament of the heroine of Paulo Coelho’s Adultery, Linda. The introduction itself unfolds that she is a journalist, married with two children and has an affluent lifestyle. Despite having no reasons to worry, she is bored because she feels a kind of lack of desire to live because of her secured and predefined routine existence with no adventure. To escape from her mundane routine, Linda resolves to do away with her “missing joy with something more concrete – a man.” She gets along with a high school boyfriend turned politician who uses her simply for his sexual appetite. On the contrary, Linda pines for him and ponders that she is in love with him. She excitedly admits that, “It’s thrilling to fight for a love that’s entirely unrequited.” This new experience of having no predefined notions, unpredictable behaviour of Jacob drive her crazy to that extent where she suffers emotional imbalance and opts life-changing decisions. At the end, when she paraglides in Switzerland, she has a revelation that the “world is perfect,” and to “love abundantly is to live abundantly.
Keywords: Adultery, Linda, Love, Lust, Marriage, Paulo Coelho, sex