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Satire
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
The novel is set in a Caribbean port city modeled closely on Cartagena, Colombia, where Gabriel García Márquez himself was born. The city’s atmosphere is defined by its sweltering heat, heavy humidity, and constant threat of disease, which together form not just a backdrop but a living, oppressive presence throughout the story. Cholera outbreaks periodically strike the community, making illness and mortality an unavoidable fact of daily life, while also reinforcing the novel’s recurring association between love, passion, and sickness. The climate itself seems to shape the characters’ experiences of longing and desire, with feverish heat echoing Florentino’s obsessive love and the languid atmosphere mirroring the decades of waiting that structure the plot.
Beyond its physical climate, the city reflects the layered history of colonialism and its aftermath. The remnants of Spanish colonial architecture and social hierarchies coexist with emerging signs of modernization and political unrest. Class divides are starkly visible: the wealthy elite maintain European tastes and aspire to cultural models set by Paris and England, while the poorer residents inhabit decaying neighborhoods and suffer most acutely from disease and instability. These divides influence the central romance, as Fermina’s marriage to Dr. Urbino is as much a product of social position as of personal choice. The political backdrop—featuring civil wars, shifting governments, and gradual modernization—lurks at the edges of the novel, emphasizing the instability of the world in which the characters pursue their personal dramas.
Ultimately, the setting is never merely a neutral stage. The tropical city and its surrounding landscapes mirror the emotional lives of the characters, embodying both beauty and decay. The same streets that host parades and celebrations also reek of disease; the same sea that suggests romance and freedom also implies death and distance. This doubleness underscores García Márquez’s larger themes: love is never free from suffering, and human passion is always intertwined with mortality and social reality.
Related Themes:
