The Picture of Dorian Gray and Love in a Time of Cholera are both set at the turn of the 19th Century. Dorian had his hedonistic romps in Victorian turn of the Century England, while Florentino Ariza started his vigil in the 19th Century only to watch it bear fruit in the early 20th. Dorian Gray had his fun at the expense of his misbegotten portrait. It suffered the fruit of his sins while he remained blissfully youthful and unblemished. Florentino had no magic painting to keep him youthful. In fact, he aged considerably between the time he vowed to reserve his true love for Fermina and when she finally reciprocated it. The picture of Dorian Gray is the only novel published by Oscar Wilde, while Love in a Time of Cholera is but one of Nobel prize winner Gabriel García Márquez’s novels.
Predominant Themes
The predominant Themes in the Picture of Dorian Gray are Hedonism and Homoeroticism. In the novel, Dorian Gray starts as a beautiful young man who attracts the obsession of a painter named Basil. Basil proceeds to paint a portrait of him, which for some reason becomes imbued with magically gains the power to suffer for his sins. Basil says in Chapter 1, “as long as I live, the personality of Dorian Gray will dominate me.” Although there is no direct expression of homosexual acts in the story, it is heavily hinted that Basil is one of those who had homosexual affairs with Dorian Gray. He is not the only one a young man who consorted with Dorian was describes as “what gentleman would associate with him?” which is to say that now that he has been tainted by an affair with Dorian, he has lost his status among the gentlemen of Victorian England. The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of the first examples of a story where a person is driven to perdition and an unfortunate end in part because of his homosexual activity.
Hedonism is the other major theme in the story. Dorian received his hedonistic inclinations from his ‘mentor’ Lord Henry. He is narcissistic and obsessed with beauty, his own beauty. He is also obsessed with getting the most out of pleasures and maximizing the fulfillment of his senses. In this quest, he is aided by the painting. Because he does not age and does not suffer from his acts, Dorian is enticed into seeking the most inane pleasures. One of the most obvious ones is his choice to engage in homosexual behavior. He becomes “more and more enamored of his own beauty, more and more interested in the corruption of his own soul (chap 12).”
Another form of Hedonism is the fact that Dorian only loved Sibyl because she could act. When she could no longer please his sense through acting, he disposes of her.
However, he is not alone. His example Lord Henry is notorious for his own jaunts, albeit he hides them and maintains a veneer of respectability. In fact, in chapter one, he confesses that he goes to all sorts of ‘disreputable’ places and has to invent excuses to hid where he has been and what he has done. His wife is so used to his lying that when he is caught, she merely laughs at the mistake and makes no row about it.
Secrecy and double life is another aspect of a Picture of Dorian Gray. That Dorian is homosexual is only hinted at in the book. Like his idol Lord Henry, he still has a veneer of respectability which he can show off in public despite his excesses. Both of them secretly hide their true selves behind lies. The same can, in fact, be said of Oscar Wilde, who knew that if his homosexuality came out, he would be condemned. In fact, it happened in 1895 and resulted in his ruin.
Love in a Time of Cholera’s primary theme is that suffering for love can be a form of nobility. In the story, Florentino is rejected by Fermina but claims he will reserve his true love for Fermina. Despite having 622 love affairs prior to Fermina’s final acceptance of his love, he believes that his true love is Fermina. He holds on to his love for Fermina for more than 50 years, even if during that entire period she does not show any indication of such being feelings being mutual. The title itself can be interpreted as part of this. Cholera is a disease that afflicts a person. The same is true for the love Florentino has for Fermina. He can never be truly happy with his other women because he prefers his true love. While he believes he can never be happy with the other women, he has no regard for the women. For example, when he carries out a pedophilic, sexual affair with Americana Vicuna, she is only 14, yet he openly admits to loving Fermina. Since she is only a young, innocent girl, she is crushed and commits suicide.
Another theme is Aging and death. The book spans fifty years. In that time, Fermina and Florentino morph from beautiful youth to decrepit old age. Yet Florentino’s everlasting love does not fade. While Florentino’s love endured the passing of the years well, Jeremiah de Saint-Amour as a whole did not. At Sixty years of age, the photographer and chess player decided to kill himself rather than suffer the indignity of old age. Fermina herself is no longer the strapping young maiden that Florentino is initially fallen in love with. Over forty years of not-so-happy marriage and the passing of the years have done much to wane her physical beauty. She is old and worn but still very lovable in the eyes of Florentino. Compared to her Americana, Vicuna is young and vigorous. Only 14-years old, she is at the cusp of life. However, all her youthful ardor is no match for the fifty-year obsession with Florentino.
Style
Oscar Wilde writes in a style of gothic horror fiction for his book Picture of Dorian Gray. The dark nature of the story is told from a 3rd personal perspective. The theme devolves from one of adoration into one of Hedonism and the destruction it brings. Written during the end of the Victorian era, the story tells of the decadence and lack of moderation that people in that time suffer from. The story follows a logical progression.
Gabriel García Márquez wrote using an omniscient third-person view in order to highlight the magical details of a person that would seem mundane. Unlike the picture of Dorian Gray, the narrative here uses large time skips which are made necessary by the long time period covered by the novel. The novel, from a chronological perspective, starts near the end, then goes back to the beginning when the love between the two protagonists started. After detailing in symmetrical style what has transpired between the two in the meantime, it goes back to where it left us by returning to the time when Florentino professes his love for Fermina yet again.
Similarities
The main similarity in the novels is the debauchery of the two novels. In the Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian is hedonistic and sinful. He breaks the heart Sibyl and destroys her simply because she can no longer please him with her acting. Sibyl, prior to falling in love with Dorian, was a brilliant actress but could no longer pretend love when she is so in love with a real person. Dorian, it is hinted at but not expressly stated due to the taboos of the time, has homosexual relations with a number of young gentlemen. He also has other vices that no self-respecting person would engage in. However, the effects of his debauchery are not visited upon him but rather upon his picture.
Unlike Dorian Gray, who lived in Victorian England, Florentino lived on an unnamed Caribbean island and lived in a place with considerably stricter morals. Yet over the course of his fifty-year vigil for Fermina, Florentino carries out a total of 622 affairs with other women. One of his affairs even includes a fourteen-year-old girl named Americana Vicuna. Aside from having an affair with an underage girl, not all of his other escapades are with single women. Despite all of these affairs, he still claims that his true love will be reserved only for Fermina. He uses his sexual exploits to sate himself and try to lessen his grief from his longing for Fermina.
Differences
Florentino believes in eternal love and that he clings to his first love and believes that she will eventually reciprocate this love. Dorian believes in temporal love. In fact, his infatuation with Sibyl ends the moment she can no longer act well. He rejects her so completely that Sibyl, heartbroken, decides to kill herself. Although Americana Vicuna does the same after her affair with Florentino fails, it should be noted that Florentino did not reject her. Rather he simply never loved her at par with Fermina. Despite his own rejection, Florentino clings to his love for more than 50 years.
The endings are also different. Dorian suffers a sad ending. In the end, he realizes that his secretive and hedonistic lifestyle is wrong. However, he lacks the necessary guilt to confess and repent his sins. Instead, he stabs the picture and, in effect, commits suicide. By comparison, Florentino’s love is finally reciprocated by Fermina. She gives in, and the ending presents the two on a riverboat with a yellow flag, signifying that there are people on the boat with cholera. The flag is put there so that no one will disturb the couple and be scandalized that a woman so recently widowed would give in to the advances of a lover who pursued her for over fifty years.
References
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Márquez, Gabriel García. Love in the Time of Cholera.