Love in the Time of Cholera: An Idealized Criticism of Latin American Patriarchy, Masculinity and Society’s Limits on Heterosexual Love

Abstract

The consequences of patriarchy have been studied and debated across many fields, including sociology, history, politics, psychology, and of course, literature, with many academics making strong arguments for the need to dismantle and replace traditional patriarchal constructs. Literature studies, however, have been limited in their scope of examining how Latin American patriarchy has shaped masculinity, and by extension, love. My paper tackles this topic through a close analysis of Gabriel García Márquez’s novels, with a specific focus on Love in the Time of Cholera. “Love in the Time of Cholera: An Idealized Criticism of Latin American Patriarchy, Masculinity and Society’s Limits on Heterosexual Love,” discusses how patriarchal constructs are portrayed in the novel and the related repercussions on the romantic lives of the characters. I examine how García Márquez weaves a narrative of overly idealized romantic heterosexual love alongside a satirical criticism of the Latin American patriarchy and conventional Latin American masculinity. I present how in doing so, García Márquez challenges readers to read beyond his magical aesthetic to discover greater lessons—namely of the failings of the patriarchy in Latin America, and by extension, the toxic effects it has wrought on romantic love—that can be learned from his enchanting characters.