In ‘Love in the Time of Cholera,’ set in an unidentified port city in South America that is ravaged by cholera and civil conflicts, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall in love. The story is set at the turn of the 20th century. Fermina marries Dr. Juvenal Urbino and carries on with her life as her feelings transition from adolescence to adulthood. The former lovers are given another chance after Dr. Urbino’s death. The intricate story interweaves past and present occurrences to portray the three main characters at various stages of their lives and to highlight the complexity of love.
Plot Summary of Love in the Time of Cholera
Warning – This article contains important details and spoilers
‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ deviates from the conventional practice of dividing the novel into chapters. Instead, it presents a continuous narrative that seamlessly weaves together various timelines, characters, and events. The absence of traditional chapter breaks contributes to the novel’s fluid and nonlinear structure, enabling readers to immerse themselves in the interconnected lives of the characters spanning several decades.
However, for simplicity, each succeeding narrative is designated a chapter for ease of review. There are six chapters, narrated in a nonlinear fashion.
Chapter One
Dr. Juvenal Urbino inspects his friend Jeremiah de Saint-Amour’s corpse at the opening of the story. Reluctant to face the “ravages of time,” de Saint-Amour ended his own life. De Saint-Amour tells Dr. Urbino in a letter what his secret identity is, upsetting the doctor’s already hectic day and rigorous routine. He dies after falling off a ladder while attempting to apprehend his freed parrot following his holy nap. Since Dr. Urbino was a well-respected man, many people attended the burial, which was organized by his wife, Fermina Daza. Nobody seems to notice Florentino Ariza’s presence. Florentino waits in Fermina’s drawing room after her close companions have left, promising “once again” to uphold his “vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love.” She kicks him out and, at last, is left alone to cry. She prays for death but dreams more of Florentino than her deceased husband.
Chapter Two
When Florentino Ariza was a little kid and he delivered a telegraph to Fermina Daza’s father, Lorenzo Daza, on the Park of Evangels, he fell in love with her at first sight. He composes a violin serenade and writes love letters to Fermina with his mother’s assistance. After months of him pretending to read aloud to her, they start writing each other a letter every day. Two years later, he makes a proposal. Following his discovery of their affair, Fermina’s father, Lorenzo Daza, threatens Florentino’s life and sends Fermina on a 21-month quest to forget her “poor lover.” The young couple continues their covert courtship after her return, until one day Fermina abruptly changes her mind. 51 years, 9 months, and 4 days have passed since Fermina Daza abruptly rejected Florentino Ariza in the Arcade of the Scribes, telling him to “forget it.” Despite this, Florentino Ariza declares his unwavering love for her.
Chapter Three
28-year-old Dr. Juvenal Urbino returns from Paris with a mission to transform the city he adores, following his father’s death from cholera. His “obsession” with hygiene helps to curb the spread of cholera. Dr. Urbino returns for an unnecessary check-up after evaluating Fermina Daza, 18, for cholera symptoms. He finds himself thinking about Fermina all the time. She strikes him with a window slam. Lorenzo Daza encourages the partnership despite Fermina’s indignation, and Dr. Urbino starts writing “brief and proper” letters, which Fermina ignores until her cousin Hildebranda Sánchez expresses admiration for the physician. Florentino is devastated to see that Fermina is getting married to a man who has “family and fortune.” Don Leo XII Loayza, Florentino’s uncle, is convinced by his mother, Tránsito Ariza, to set up a job for the young man, who is far away from Fermina. A woman sexually abuses Florentino on the riverboat, distracting him for a little while. When he gets back to the city, he starts seeing the Widow Nazaret. He sees Fermina and Dr. Urbino one day in church, almost two years later; she is glowing and six months pregnant.
Chapter Four
Florentino Ariza promises that he will “win fame and fortune” to prove his worth to Fermina Daza, even though she is already married to another man. He asks Leo XII Loayza for a job at the Caribbean River Company, and he gets assigned as a clerk. The memory of Tránsito Ariza ages. After her death, Florentino decides to pursue romantic relationships but keeps his heart reserved for Fermina. Fermina endures hardships in the home of her harsh mother-in-law, Doña Blanca, despite outward displays of happiness. She approaches Dr. Juvenal Urbino following the death of her father and expresses her intense dissatisfaction. The pair departs the nation when he turns their family’s companies into gold and puts it in banks in Europe. The couple returns home when Doña Blanca passes away while they are in Paris. Fermina is expecting again.
Chapter Five
Florentino Ariza starts to worry when he discovers that Fermina Daza appears to have vanished from the city. He looks around for solutions without success. Following her discovery of her husband’s extramarital affair with Barbara Lynch, Fermina decides to part ways with him in order to spend some time with her cousin Hildebranda Sánchez in San Juan de la Ciénaga. She stays with Hildebranda for almost two years since she is adamant that she will not go back to Dr. Juvenal Urbino. To her “joy,” Dr. Urbino then shows her and persuades her to return home. When Florentino Ariza learns that Fermina Daza seems to have left the city, he becomes concerned. He searches everywhere but is unable to find answers. Fermina chooses to split from her husband after learning of his adulterous affair with Barbara Lynch. She does this so that she can spend time in San Juan de la Ciénaga with her cousin Hildebranda Sánchez. She has remained with Hildebranda for over two years because she is determined not to return to Dr. Juvenal Urbino. Dr. Urbino then shows her, much to her “joy,” and convinces her to go back home.
Chapter Six
After the first shock of becoming a widow, Fermina Daza starts to feel like she can go on with her life and purges the house of anything that makes her think of Dr. Juvenal Urbino. She regrets writing Florentino Ariza a letter full of hate after being incensed by his declaration of love for her on the day of her husband’s funeral. She is intrigued by his response to her letter since it shows her a different, 76-year-old Florentino. A year later, Florentino confidently walks up to Fermina, and to her surprise, she accepts him. Despite her children’s protests, the two become close and go on a riverboat excursion. They get close on the river, and they continue to sail up and down the Magdalena River to keep their new friendship intact and to keep others at bay.
