Love in the Time of Cholera

Here, García Márquez, via the voice of an omniscient narrator, explores the early days of Fermina and Florentino’s lives as well as their young love. Love is equated with suffering here in a new way, when Florentino’s physical ailments and symptoms of cholera are associated with lovesickness. Other people see this suffering and encourage it in young Florentino, because they believe his passion is fleeting. His mother even instructs Florentino to “suffer all you can… because these things don’t last your whole life” (59). In these moments, the connection between love and suffering becomes an individual experience that is widely accepted as a cultural norm, typical of Florentino’s stage of life.

Class relations impact this section of the novel, as Fermina’s father Lorenzo Daza rejects Florentino as his daughter’s lover because he is not recognized by his father and his parents are unmarried. As the Ariza family struggle to make their house suitable for a woman like Fermina Daza, their struggle to be seen as suitable for someone of her class causes Florentino deep shame—he wants to be enough for her but feels inadequate. Florentino is determined, however, to attach himself to Fermina; he is much admired by many young women of his class, but he seeks the hand of a young woman who is out of reach, which reveals Florentino’s stubborn, obsessive character and his brazen willingness to take on a challenge.

Finally, when Fermina Daza rejects Florentino after years of courtship and a promised engagement, García Márquez introduces the idea of love as illusion. Though Love in the Time of Cholera is considered to be the least ‘magically realistic’ of all of García Márquez’s novels, dreams and fantasies play a significant role in the development of the plot line. By offering perspective on the many varieties of love, the young, idyllic romance is one that warrants careful description for its fleeting, illusory qualities that cast doubt on its authenticity. For example, Florentino’s promise to bring up the remains of a mythical sunken galleon can be interpreted as fanciful, suggesting that he and his promises of love are not to be taken seriously. As well, when Fermina comes face to face with her lover in the market, she realizes that she does not physically love him—she only loves his love. This moment of realization echoes the vision she has of Florentino at the foot of her bed; his less corporal self is more interesting to her than his real self. Fermina’s rejection of Florentino contrasts with the love between the pair later in the novel, which is less traditionally romantic, but more authentic.