Could you picture yourself saying that a dead man is "handsome" or "hot"? In the story "The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, all of the women in the village referred to the dead corpse, Esteban, as rather "the best built man they had ever seen". As being a lady if you are to say that about a boy and/or a man you typically think that he is attractive. In addition to you thinking that he is attractive then you give your heart a gateway to form feelings for the corpse. The key to it all starts with your imagination, and if you let your imagination run wildly long enough you can be in love with a corpse and not even realize it.
"Not only was he the tallest,...". Most ladies I know prefers a tall man over a short man. Being a tall man is one of the many qualities a woman looks for in a man. It's as if it's natural for a woman to want a tall man! I am sure that is how the village women felt in "The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World".
In the story it even says that they went to the extreme of comparing this gorgeous corpse to their husbands. "They secretly compared him to their own men,...". If a woman takes out enough time to compare Esteban to their actual husbands this shows signs of interest. It also gives you the opportunity to read between the lines and see that they are fantasizing how their relationship with Esteban might have been if he was alive. Which is showing a secret forbidden love forming.
Love can be so close, yet so far away. Love for the women in the village was laying as close as the table, but since he was dead their love for him felt millenniums away. A forbidden love it was indeed. This romance went on as long as they wanted it too. Because in the end, the romance with Esteban could always play out as long as they wanted it too in their hearts'.
