Already in the first two sections of the novel, we encounter many different types of love from the three main characters. In the relationship between the elderly Dr. Urbino and Fermina, we see love that is merely convenient and passionless even at the very end. In the affair between Fermina and Florentino, however, we see love that is based on passion and fascination, as well as a touch of unrequited love. Even early on in the novel, Marquez shows us the many different shades of love and how they can entrance and control the people who fall into them.


The love between Fermina and Urbino in the first section shows the less romantic side of love. On the surface, the couple may appear to be still in love. As Marquez describes, they are dependent on one another and cannot be apart without thinking of the other. However, it quickly becomes clear that her love is not so pure, as Fermina is often annoyed by Urbino’s habits and inability to care for himself. Because they are both growing old and he is several years older, she has to care for him now that he is weakening. Fermina is contemptuous of her aging husband’s frailty and often will pretend to be asleep so she will not have to help him in the morning. There is also hidden resentment between them that comes pouring out in their only argument over soap. This argument, while over something trivial, becomes an outlet for any tensions or repressed anger. The tension skyrockets into a multi-month argument until Urbino finally lies and says that there was actually soap in the bathroom. She also becomes annoyed by how he urinates and finally pressures him into using the toilet like a woman. If there was any doubt before, we know that Fermina does not truly love Urbino because she thinks more about Florentino than about her deceased husband after the funeral. After all that time, loving her husband was more convenient and easy rather than passionate and deep. Even though she stays married to him for fifty years, Fermina does not love Urbino in the passionate, romantic way that we see Florentino loving her in the second section.


The love between Florentino and Fermina is vastly different and more romantic than her marriage to Urbino, except that, once again, he seems more in love than she does. Florentino’s love is passionate and instantaneous. After meeting her, he thinks of her constantly and writes a note that turns into a seventy-or-so page letter. Fermina notices him in the park every day and starts to pine for him as well. They both are in love but the intensity of his love is extreme and begins to frighten her after she reads the letter and their love becomes unequal. Even so, their love seems much more passionate and true than what we see of Fermina’s marriage to Urbino. For Fermina, this “relationship” is more passionate and deep. Through her eyes, we get to see the other, exciting side of love that we do not see in the first section of the novel.

In the first two sections of the novel, Marquez contrasts two types of love using the contrasting relationships in Fermina’s life. On the one hand, we see how love can be passionless and empty. In the other section, we see how love can be exciting and caring. Using Fermina’s life to contrast these two sides, Marquez builds anticipation in the book in a unique way. We as readers want to know which love affair was really the better one and what happened that Fermina ended up with “the wrong guy”. It is an effective tool that not only builds suspense but also shows readers the dual side of love and its power. (632)