The Many Faces of Love

Henry David Thoreau once stated, “There is no remedy for love but to love more.” This statement proves to be true throughout Love in the Time of Cholera, and is evident in many different aspects of the story. Gabriel García Márquez, whose extraordinary understanding of life and relationships shows through in his writing, explores the numerous types of love in Love in the Time of Cholera. Whether it be necessary love, obsessive love, true love, or fatal love, one of Márquez’s characters is sure to experience it.

The love that consumes the majority of the story is obsessive love. Florentino Ariza, from the moment he lays eyes on Fermina Daza, is obsessed with her. As a seventeen year old boy, he watches her as she walks to school, and writes hundreds of pages on how much he loves her. As they grow older, after Fermina rejects Florentino and marries Dr. Urbino, Florentino’s obsession barely dwindles. His love for Fermina, although scarily on the verge of being stalker-ish, is never ending. Florentino vows to save himself (in a spiritual way, of course) for Fermina until the day he dies, and serves as proof that love can consume every aspect of a person’s life and despite the obsessive nature, there is such thing as never-ending love.

Another aspect of love that is prominent in Love in the Time of Cholera is necessary love. Throughout Florentino’s life, he uses sex and physical attraction to fulfill his desire for love. Although the relationships that he takes part in while he is waiting for Fermina can barely be considered relationships based on true love, that the fact that this love is a necessity gives the reader a sense that it is sincere.

In the case of Fermina and Dr. Urbino, their love begins as a form of convenience, and transforms momentarily into short-lived love. Fermina marries Dr. Urbino because of his place in society, and because she would’ve been crazy to have turned down such a man. Dr. Urbino, on the other hand, marries Fermina because she is beautiful and will be an honor to have on his arm. This form of love is forced, and therefore their relationship makes both Fermina and Dr. Urbino miserable most of the time.

Leona Cassiani was the woman who made Florentino realize that “it is possible to be a woman’s friend and not go to bed with her.” (188). This is an important realization for Florentino because it proves that his sexual relationships do not account for true love. Leona is the closest Florentino comes to love other than Fermina, and this is because he respects her so much that he cannot have sex with her. Leona also stands for unattainable love. She and Florentino miss their chance, and since they have allowed their relationship to become so intellectual, there is no chance for it to flourish into something else.

One of my favorite types of love that Márquez touches on often during the story is secret love. All of the main characters have a lover or a crush that no one is aware of. Florentino makes all of his lovers a secret in order to keep it a secret from Fermina that he has ever been unfaithful. Most of Florentino’s lovers are married, widowed, or extremely young, and don’t want others to know of their affair. Dr. Urbino has an affair with a mulatto woman, and although he tries to keep it secret, Fermina finds out about it. And the list goes on. I find this type of love to be exciting and mysterious, keeping the story interesting.