The Different Shades of Love

One particular theme is always present in my mind when I read Love in the Time of Cholera is love and all the different levels is has in the novel. There is the love Fermina shares with Florentino and then the love she shares with Dr. Urbino. Although both of these men care for her, the different types of love they show Fermina contrast severely. From the very beginning, Floretino’s love of Fermina has been extremely passionate, even bordering on obsession. However as his character matures throughout the novel, his love, while still great, definitely lessened in intensity. The relationship between Dr. Urbino and Fermina did contain love, but it differed from that of Florentino’s. I believe that the old-fashioned formality of Dr. Urbino’s character prevented him from showing just how much he loved Fermina. He may have loved her with all the same passion and loyalty as Florentino, but did not show it because it would have appeared as “inappropriate”. So then, since Dr. Urbino maintained a sense of propriety at all times with Fermina, their love grew to be more of a “I love you, I’m just not in love with you”.

Another level of love we see in the novel is in the relationship between Dr. Urbino and his mother, Doña Blanca. My heart went out to Fermina when I read about her encounter with Urbino’s ruthless mother (206). I feel that my initial reaction to their meeting matched many of my classmates when they read this scene, feeling sympathy for Fermina and taking an immediate dislike to Doña Blanca. As we discussed in class, the main reason Doña Blanca is so mean to Fermina is because she does not want to be replaced in Urbino’s life by some younger, prettier girl. Also, she feels that no one is good enough for her son. While her behavior comes off as out-of-line, I can relate to Doña Blanca. Whenever Chris begins to date a girl, I take an immediate dislike to her. Call it my sisterly nature. It does not matter who the girl is; I do not want her to date my brother. I think that Doña Blanca and I share the same idea that when our children (or in my case brother) gets married or gets into a relationship, it is a sign they are growing up and are no longer little babies. In Dr. Urbino’s case, he could have brought home a princess and I bet his mother would have even just a little disdain for her, because to her, a wife for her son shows that he is mature enough to care for another person besides himself. Gabriel García Márquez brilliantly intertwines the themes of love and the passage of time through this particular relationship and others as well. He addresses the fairy-tale, Princess Bride “meant to be together” love through Florentino and Fermina; the caring, compassionate love between Fermina and Dr. Urbino; and the protective love between a parent and a child through Doña Blanca and Dr. Urbino.

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