Love in The Time of Cholera

Analysis of “Love in the Time of Cholera” by Marquez
The novel “Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez involves passionate
man’s unrequited love and his pursuit for over half a century to win the love of his true love. In
the narrative, Florentino Ariza as one of the main characters falls madly in love with Fermina
Daza who is a young girl. However, Fermina rejects Florentino and marries Dr. Urbino.
Florentino waits for 51 years for Fermina’s husband to die so that he can marry the love of his
life. This story contains different illustrations of love and social inequality. In addition, the
author uses irony as a literary device to further develop the storyline.
The theme of love is one of the major topics of the book. About business and social class,
love is mostly for those who are wealthy, influential and belong to the upper class. For instance,
Fermina first rejects Florentino since he was poor and she felt he was beneath her “My God, poor
man! Florentino Ariza smiled, tried to say something, tried to follow her, but she erased him
from her life with a wave of her hand” (102). She marries Dr. Urbino for his wealth and not
because she loves him. However, after the death of her husband, Fermina marries Florentino
since he was wealthy enough to deserve her. The wealthy in this book are more capable of
enjoying their love as portrayed in the scene where Dr. Urbino takes Fermina on a hot air balloon
ride across the lands of Japan. In addition, the notion that love is for the wealthy and strong is
depicted when Florentino’s mother reprimands her son when she finds him in a pool of his
vomit. She explains that “the weak would never enter the kingdom of love, which is a harsh and
ungenerous kingdom, and that women give themselves only to men of resolute spirit, who
provide the security they need in order to face life” (69). This comment spurs Florentino to work
hard to become the man that Fermina would want to marry. Also, Fermina rejected Florentino
because she felt he was beneath her in terms of their social classes and opted to marry Dr. Urbino
who was a wealthy man in the upper class. Thus, only those who are wealthy enough or belong
to the upper class can experience love.
The novel depicts that love is reliant on money. This notion is identified in various
instances throughout this book. For instance, Urbino takes Fermina on extravagant occasions as a
way of showing his love for her; “Nothing happened without them: civic exhibitions, the Poetic
Festival, artistic events, charity raffles, patriotic ceremonies, the first journey in a balloon”. This
illustration indicates that their happiness depended on the amount of money they were able to
spend. Furthermore, people assumed that the marriage between Fermna and Urbino was happy
because Urbino was wealthy enough to afford to take Fermina on extravagant outings. The same
was identified between Florentino and Fermina when they finally wed and sail on a ship towards
their future.
In understanding the nature of love and passion, the main concern is how Florentino is
depicted. Florentino is obsessive as he vows to wait for Fermina until the death of her husband.
However, he sleeps with as many women as possible to forget Fermina for some time. This habit
stains Florentino’s character because it makes him become a heartless person who uses women.
At one time, one of the women that he sleeps with gets murdered by her husband after their affair
has been discovered.
Fermina Daza is quite likable even though she is both stubborn and snooty. There are
scant details of her as compared to the men she interacts with in her life. It seems that Fermina
gets married to Urbino because he is a different person. As a result, Fermina benefits greatly
from Urbino’s status and money. The marriage between Fermina and Urbino is used to show a
real love between two spouses who face several challenges and overcome them throughout their
married life.
In the book “Love in the Time of Cholera,” love is described to be fleeting, passionate,
intense, and interlocked with sex. The author presents love in this way to show the flaws and
contradictions involved in it. Additionally, the author does this to show that love can appear in
many ways and also be shallow. However, throughout the book, one can notice that love is
depicted in a highly problematic manner.
There are three instances of rape in this book, and they are both presented as lovemaking.
In the first case, a woman rapes a man. After that, the man starts to have fantasies about the
woman who seems to be his potential rapist. In the second case, a man rapes a woman, resulting
in the woman being in love with the attacker “If you ever hear of a big, strong fellow who raped
a poor black girl from the street on Drowned Men’s Jetty, one October fifteenth at about half-
past eleven at night, tell him where he can find me.” (168). The woman goes to the extent of
believing that no one can be compared to the attacker. The third case is found in the last fifty
pages, or so of the book, there is a description of sexual assault that is presented as lovemaking.
Florentino’s previous lover was groomed and manipulated by him to the extent that she
committed suicide because Florentino rejected her for Fermina.
There are several instances of social inequality and justice in the novel. For example,
Florentino is not allowed to be near Lorenzo Daza’s daughter. Daza does so because he wants his
daughter to become a lady and Florentino does not even have the name of his father (166). There
are many instances where Florentino is prevented from eating with members of an exclusive club
even though he has a prominent position in the society and is also wealthy (he worked hard to
achieve this wealth because at first, he was poor). They do this because Florentino was born out
of wedlock. As a result, Fermina Daza, Lorenzo Daza’s daughter was married to Juvenal Urbino
who was a physician, had a family and fortune, educated in Europe and had a good reputation for
a man his age. Therefore, this shows that those who were born out of wedlock were highly
discriminated and were not even respected. This is not good because a person does not choose to
be born out of wedlock and such people deserve to be respected.
Before her marriage to Dr. Urbino, Fermina is threatened by those from the upper-class
who do not want her. The people from the upper-class send cruel letters to Fermina because she
is just a girl who lacks an important name and her father is rich but suspicious because of the
deals that he conducts. She is discriminated against and even bullied through the cruel letters sent
to her (156). Moreover, Femina is embarrassed to be seen with Florentino when they arrive at the
dock since he was of a lower class than she was. This notion is identified when she exclaims
“Today, when I saw you, I realized that what is between us is nothing more than an illusion”
(102). This depiction shows prejudice against people that are of lower classes than the upper
class.
Fermina is humiliated that her husband had an affair with a woman who is of a mixed-
race background when she states “And worst of all, damn it: with a black woman” (250). This
explanation depicts the racial discrimination that was present within the book. These
discriminatory feelings were not uncommon for women of her social class. After her discovery
of the affair, she travels home to find that her home town was destroyed by a banana plantation
(250). This destruction can be described as an effect of colonialism since the book is written in
the post-colonialism era.

The statement “without river navigation, there is no love” that Uncle Leo XII told young
Florentino has traces of irony (168). The irony of the quote is that the specific phrase can also be
identified as a metaphor. Florentino had two significant voyages. The first one is where he
decided to return to Fermina and wait for her. The second voyage is when they leave together to
love each other forever. These two voyages can be identified as the literal meaning of the phrase.
This phrase can also be understood to mean that without a material base, love cannot flourish.
Uncle Leo tries to make Florentino understand that there are more things to worry about than just
romance. The uncle also implies that to survive, the young man must also consider the practical
side of life and not focus on love only. The irony, in this phrase, has been used to develop the
storyline further as well as provide a hidden meaning for the readers.
In conclusion, Marquez’s book “Love in the Time of Cholera” is based on post-colonial
era focuses more on the social divide in terms of classes as well as the destructive nature love
can have on a man. The book is beautifully written with a well-progressive plot. The book
depicts different instances where love and social inequalities are clearly expressed. Furthermore,
irony, as a literary device has been used in this book to develop the storyline further as well as
provide a hidden meaning for the readers. The author prefers to use characters instead of events
to express the different nature of love and passion. Additionally, according to the book, love is
reliant on money in such a way that only the wealthy people who have enough money can afford
to have love. There are also various instances of racism as well as discrimination with people of
the lower class being discriminated. The author uses different characters in the novel to explain
that all sorts of people can love. Also, the different timespan in the book helps the reader to
identify how love can change over time.

Work Cited
Márquez, Gabriel G. Love in the Time of Cholera. Penguin USA, 1989.

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What are some of the themes explored in the novel?

How does the author depict the notion of love?

Analysis of “Love in the Time of Cholera” by Marquez

author uses irony as a literary device to further develop the storyline.

to the upper class can experience love.

has been discovered.

depicted in a highly problematic manner.

committed suicide because Florentino rejected her for Fermina.

be born out of wedlock and such people deserve to be respected.

the post-colonialism era.

storyline further as well as provide a hidden meaning for the readers.

In conclusion, Marquez’s book “Love in the Time of Cholera” is based on post-colonial

identify how love can change over time.

Márquez, Gabriel G. Love in the Time of Cholera. Penguin USA, 1989.

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