The Miserable Lover

Knowing that Dr. Urbino poses as an obstacle for Fermina and him, Florentino diverts his attention to seducing other female characters in hopes of finding a temporary relief from his “lover’s disease.” Judging from his relationships with women during their separation, I believe that some of the women act as a palliative treatment for his disease, while others represent a poison for him because their character aspects and influences further torments and deeply affects him about his philosophy of love. However, each relationship teaches Florentino essential aspects of love and fidelity to prepare the once hesitant Florentino into a mature man to impress his true love, Fermina.

The early relationships serve as a diversion for the distraught and dejected Florentino to build up his momentum and ego. These relationships provide Florentino temporary satisfaction for his incessant desire for love. For example, Florentino’s interactions between Rosalba and Widow Nazarat rejuvenate and assure him that he is still able to seduce women. Once Florentino realizes that he has regained his strength in seducing women, I believe that he uses these opportunities to take advantage of the vulnerability of the women he seduced. Although Florentino seems like the victim of the early relationships because he was raped and was looked upon as paramour for widows, he creates a loving relationship that he thinks would resemble his relationship with Fermina. From these relationships with Rosalba, Widow Nazarat, and Ausencia, he learns what true love is and how to properly court women. By mastering the essential secrets of love, he feels more confident and capable of winning Fermina’s love once again. His recovery to love is depicted in his relationships with Sara, Olympia, Leona, and America. From how he seduces and treats these women, we see a more smooth, mature, and gentleman-like character. In his path to recovery, Leona alleviated his pains of Fermina’s absence and taught him the most among the other women. She taught him that true love requires the mutuality of care and understanding. By describing their love as a mother-son relationship, Leona influenced him by casting a mature perspective of love. Florentino’s acceptance a nonsexual relationship with Leona–a woman whom he has grown to trust, love, and seek comfort without feeling dejected–confirms the coming of his maturity from unrestrained and irrational desire for women.

Florentino understands that he can live and love another person, but is still mortified that he will be “Miserable at Best.”** While these women provide a temporary relief to his lost of that loving feeling, their influences are detrimental to him. Realizing that his ability to seduce and love women give him temporary satisfaction, he gratuitously implants himself into numerous love affairs, which later results in heartaches because he understands that he is not truly in love with these women. Because he grows affectionate for women such as Ausencia, the mental patient, Olympia, and America, they become vulnerable and allow him to love them. Because of his desperation for temporary satisfaction, Florentino casts the wrong impressions. As a consequence for his irresponsibility and incessant love, their relationships end in tragedies, which further saddens him. From these mistakes, I believe Florentino recognizes the responsibility and effect that love possesses as he tries to make amends with Fermina.

Each woman Florentino has affected has taught him something useful in helping him create a fairy-tale love relationship with Fermina. From these women, Florentino learns about the true love that he owes to Fermina. In the end, I believe that these women were effective means of reinvigorating him to love again, but ineffective because he was still desperate for Fermina.

** The lyrics of this song by Mayday Parade remind me of Florentino’s hardships of accepting love. http://www.lyrics007.com/Mayday%20Parade%20Lyrics/Miserable%20At%20Best%20Lyrics.html