Books - Love in the Time of Cholera

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	Books - Love in the Time of Cholera

Love in the Time of Cholera (El amor en los tiempos del cólera, 1985) is a novel by Gabriel García Márquez about a fifty-year love triangle between Fermina Daza, Florentino Ariza and Doctor Juvenal Urbino set in the late 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century (roughly 1880 to 1930). The novel, a picturesque tale of unrequited love, which is written in Márquez's trademark form of magical realism, deeply explores the idea that suffering for love is a kind of nobility.

Synopsis

The novel begins as Dr. Urbino comes to examine the body of his close friend Jeremiah Saint-Amour. Jeremiah killed himself at the age of 60 in order to avoid growing old. Upon returning to his home, he finds his beloved pet parrot atop a mango tree. While trying to retrieve it, he falls to his death.

Florentino Ariza takes this moment to proclaim his love for Dr. Urbino's aged wife, Fermina Daza, but she is repulsed by his outburst and more than a little scared at the feelings she has engendered. When she was young, she and Florentino had written passionate love letters to each other and had even decided to get married. Upon seeing Florentino, however, Fermina is overcome with disgust for him and rejects him.

Florentino maintains an obsession for Fermina (see Pierre Abélard) and intends to stay a virgin until they are together, but soon finds himself using sex to mitigate the pain of their separation. Fermina marries Dr. Urbino and becomes a respectable wife to him. Dr. Urbino does likewise except for a brief affair.

Only after Dr. Urbino's death is Florentino able to revisit his love for Fermina. He is able to--with the power of his writing--slowly rekindle their relationship. On a river voyage together, the elderly couple finds themselves in love. Fermina fears the scandal this will bring so the Captain of the ship raises the yellow flag of cholera, dooming them to exile but also to be together forever.

Important Characters

Florentino Ariza- Obsessed with Fermina Daza, Florentino is a poet much in demand on the Arcade of Scribes for his love letters. He falls in love with Fermina and waits more than 50 years for her husband to die so he can declare his love again.

Fermina Daza - Haughty, stubborn, and beautiful, Fermina grew up as a poor peasant but after marrying Dr. Urbino is able to maintain a sophisticated lifestyle. She despises the Church but has a great weakness for animals and flowers.

Dr. Juvenal Urbino de la Calle - Dr. Urbino maintains an aloof, aristocratic air but also a general decency and loyalty towards his wife. He dies while climbing a ladder to capture his beloved parrot.

Themes

Love as an Emotional and Physical Disease

Garcia's main notion is that lovesickness is a literal illness, a disease comparable to cholera. Florentino Ariza suffers from this just as he might suffer from any malady. At one point, Florentino conflates his physical agony with his amorous agony when he vomits after eating flowers in order to imbibe Fermina's scent. In the final chapter, the Captain's declaration of metaphorical plague is another manifestation of this.

Aging and Death

Jeremiah Saint-Amour's death inspires Dr. Urbino to meditate on his own death, especially the infirmities that accompany it. It is necessary for Fermina and Florentino to transcend not only the difficulties of love, but also the societal view that love is a young person's prerogative.

Suffering for Love

Florentino's penchant for the high drama as a poet and a lover is portrayed as both ridiculous and serious. He may go to outlandish lengths for love but in the end the absurdity is enobling and his suffering a kind of dignity. He also endures physical pains.

Translations

Love in the Time of Cholera, Penguin Books, (1989), ISBN 0140119906

:from the Spanish by Edith Grossman.

Pop Culture

This novel is the one that Jonathon (John Cusack's character), in the film Serendipity (film), must find in order to retrieve Sara's (Kate Beckinsale) phone number.

Steve Martin, in his rather humorous essay "Writing is Easy," talks about why Love in the Time of Cholera does not make a very good title. It's all tongue-in-cheek of course. The essay can be found in his book Pure Drivel.

Category:1985 books Category:Novels Category:Colombian literature

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