Self-transformation through love in elif shafak's the forty rules of love with relevance to the character of desert rose the harlot

Abstract EN

As a fundamental part of the human experience, Love has always had an immense impact and importance in the world literature.

There is perhaps no other theme in literature as prevailing, challenging, and diverse as that of love.

Writers and critics through ages have tried to examine the complex theme of love and explore the different kinds and consequences of love in their literary works.

One of the writers who have been preoccupied by the theme of love in their writings is the eminent Turkish novelist, Elif Shafak.

Her perception of love is of great prominence to this research.

In her novel The Forty Rules of Love (2009), Shafak depicts love with its divine and human dimensions and establishes it as the very essence and purpose of life.

From the radical criticisms of the role that love has played in maintaining patriarchal relations to the more foundational thinking about love as a positive and productive force, love has furthermore particularly played an important role in feminist literary theory and criticism throughout its history.

This research paper uses the recent Feminist Love Studies as its framework to scrutinize and establish love, found in places unexpected and brusquely, as the only path for self-transformation through the analysis of the character of Desert Rose the Harlot in Elif Shafak's The Forty Rules of Love.