Fermina Daza – Florentino Ariza`s lover, at the beginning of the book she is introduced as an adolescent virgin who is very simple but beautiful and that is what Florentino is attracted to. She falls in love with Florentino and they start to exchange love letters, but as soon as her father Lorenzo Daza finds out, she is forced to move away from the city, but she still keeps in touch with Florentino and even says she will marry him, but when she returns to the city, she rejects Florentino and weds Dr Juvenal Urbino at the age of 21.
Fermina`s feelings for Florentino were definitely real, but the thing that made them different was that she would not dedicate herself to love as much as Florentino did. She even married a man she did not really love. But at the end of the book Fermina finally realizes the true love of Florentino Ariza and falls in love with him again, to spend rest of their lives together in love with no equal.
Dr Urbino Ariza – he is a man Fermina Daza weds to, he is the opposite of Florentino Ariza. Dr Urbino is a rational man who is dedicated to modernization and technologies. He is the opposite of Florentino, because the first one thinks rational with his mind; but Florentino, instead, follows his heart.
Dr Urbino is introduced to us as “the most desirable of bachelors. Ha had returned from a long stay in Paris, where he had completed advanced studies in medicine and surgery [..] Seduced by his personal charms and by the certainty of his family fortune, the girls in his circle held secret lotteries to determine who would spend time with him [..]”. From the beginning we already learn his passion to medicine, progress and his work. Love for him was secondary thing. He believed that love even was not the most important thing in marriage: “The important thing in marriage is not happiness but stability”.
Dr Urbino`s character in this book shows that there are two kind of people in the world – one who follow their heart and dreams, and other who are more rational and are dedicated to their work.
Description of the plot
The story takes place in a Colombian port city which remains unnamed, but it is possible that the city described in the book is Cartagena where Gabriel García Márquez spend his youth. The novel tells us about more than a half a century long period from the late 19th century to the middle of 20th century.
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