When Florentino temporarily leaves the city by boat to escape from the heartache of Fermina Daza’s rejection, he loses his virginity to a mysterious woman who takes him into her cabin. The woman essentially rapes Florentino by forcing him to have sex without his consent, and without revealing her identity. Despite lacking direct proof, Florentino concludes that this woman must be Rosalba, one of the daughters in a family of three daughters. It remains uncertain whether Rosalba, for whom taking care of her young baby seems to be her only priority, is the actual culprit. Either way, this episode marks the beginning of Florentino’s sexual life. Instead of interpreting this sexual experience in a negative way, since he never expressed his consent, he remains fascinated by the capacity for sex with other women to make him forget Fermina Daza.
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Rosalba Character Timeline in Love in the Time of Cholera
The timeline below shows where the character Rosalba appears in Love in the Time of Cholera. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...though she seems exclusively concerned with her child’s well-being. He discovers that her name is Rosalba and becomes obsessed with her, but cannot find any clue indicting her.
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...to Antioquia, a region affected by the civil war, and Florentino realizes too late that Rosalba and her family are leaving. This makes him feel lonely. As a result, he returns...
(full context)
Chapter 5
...their lives, even from afar, maintaining at least a distant link with them. He remembers Rosalba and Widow Nazaret, the only one for whom he proved responsible as he paid for...
(full context)
