• Mrs. Yogita Upadhyay
• Dr. Mahima Gautam

CONCEPTION OF SPIRITUAL ECSTASY: A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE PROTAGONISTS OF PAULO COELHO IN THE ALCHEMIST AND THE WITCH OF THE PORTOBELLO MRS. YOGITA UPADHYAY Research Scholar Department of English MATS University Raipur (CG). ABSTRACT The omnipresent nectar of spiritual happiness is rarely contemplated by us. Paulo Coelho through his universal language siphoned this nectar in most of his protagonists. The present paper is an effort to comprehend the spiritual ecstasy attained by Santiago in The Alchemist and Athena in The witch of Portobelllo .The inevitable quest of knowing the real motive of one’s existence and the essence of happiness has always been a prominent theme of Paulo Coelho’s novels. Santiago and Athena started their journey for materialistic pleasures, but the enlightenment achieved during the journey led both of them to attain a state of spiritual tranquility which totally reformed them. Their transformation not only confined them to aspire for worldly treasures alone but also created a nexus between their spiritual life and materialistic life. This helped them to attain the serenity in life which they were earlier devoid of. Paulo Coelho had put forward the theory that along with the happiness which one gather through the set targets and goals as per the norms of society one should also work to make themselves spiritually aware of their happiness. Santiago’s rustic life is a total contrast to the life of Athena and the purpose of their quests are also not similar in the beginning, but their destiny needs only one qualification and that is the alchemy of the soul. Coelho’s protagonists belong to a neo-spiritual breed where the main purpose is to look for the altruistic quality.

Spiritual, Happiness, Ecstasy, transformation, quest, altruistic

"Conception of Spiritual Ecstasy: A Critical Study of the protagonists of Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist and The Witch of the Portobello", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.7, Issue 11, page no.360-363, November-2020, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2011339.pdf

"Conception of Spiritual Ecstasy: A Critical Study of the protagonists of Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist and The Witch of the Portobello", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.7, Issue 11, page no. pp360-363, November-2020, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2011339.pdf