Maria Juliana is perhaps best known for her famous novel The Flowers of Paradise, but there was a life long career that spanned parts of Spain, the Philippines, and Japan before she decided to make her mark on world literature. Born in Spain, she was probably very much influenced by her Spanish environment, having spent her early years in the Barcelona working industry. Growing up in a conservative family, she certainly had plenty of time to consider her own identity issues and decide upon her own path in life. It’s interesting to speculate on whether or not some of the events in her novel are foreshadowed in the personal lives of those who knew her during her lifetime. For many readers, these decisions are more than just empty words; they form a part of the overall plotline.
Height definitely comes into play in The Flowers of Paradise, as Juliana comes to terms with the fact that her long life span has come to an end. As a result of this and other factors, she has come to the realisation that love, commitment, and monogamy are things that are much more than a romantic expectation. When Maria finally meets her long lost lover in the opening pages of the novel, she realises that love is not a guarantee of a happy future, and that it may take hard work and commitment to find the right kind of partner for herself. However, this is just one example of how the heights of womanhood can come to be seen in a different light in the hands of an author, rather than always being seen as the height of womanhood from the male perspective.
Height plays a greater role in the character of Maria Juliana than one might at first think, given her stature as a writer and creator of stories based around the lives of the historical figures she so deeply admires. As a result, we see the importance of the idea of the ‘trickster’ as a national symbol throughout Europe in the 16th century. The trickster archetype is associated with many different nationalities and races, and is found in literature from China to Ireland, as well as the works of Dutch, Portuguese, French and Polish writers. It is clear from readings of the likes of Guy de Maupassant and Sir Philip Sidney, that the idea of the ‘trickster’ was deeply entrenched in popular culture, and that this was part of the very spirit of the age, which tended to separate people by their religious beliefs and nationalities.