Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela

College of Education, Arts and Sciences

Department of Social Sciences

RIZ
Life &
Works of
Jose Rizal
Topic

Writing of
Noli Me
Tangere
First Travel
Paciano, Manuel Hidalgo (brother-in-law) arranged Rizal’s
secret departure
Allowance P 356.00 (European Studies)
P 50.00 (Expenses)

Rizal boarded Salvadora – steamship, on March 3 1882

May 9, 1882 – Singapore, transferred to a larger steamship Djemnah

On the way to Europe

May 17, 1882 – Point Galle, an English Colony and the next day it ported
on Ceylon (Sri Lanka) where Rizal admired the city of Colombo for its
beauty and elegance over Singapore

May 26, 1882 – Rizal see Africa and the Suez Canal

Writing of Noli Me Tangere

First Travel
Arrival in European Soil
June 11, 1882 – Naples, Italy. He described Italy as totally buildings and
several prisons on water.
June 13 1882 – Rizal visited the chateaus in Marseilles, France - the
setting of Edmond Dante’s Count of Monte Cristo. Stayed in France for 2
days before riding a train to Barcelona, Spain.
Barcelona and Madrid
June 16, 1882 – Rizal had an unfavorable impression on Barcelona
because it was dirty, populated an inhospitable.
Rizal wrote the poem Amor Patrio (Love of Country) which was published
in Diariong Tagalog
Rizal was saddened when he heard of cholera outbreak in the Philippines
November 13, 1882 – as advised by Paciano, Rizal to proceed to Madrid and took courses at the University
Central de Madrid – Medicine / Philosophy and Letters. He also studied paintings and sculpture at the
Academy of Fine Arts in San Fernando

Writing of Noli Me Tangere

Touch me not (John 20:17), when Mary Magdalene
tried to touch the newly risen Jesus “Touch me
not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father”

June 2, 1884 – Rizal in the presence of his peers;

Pedro Paterno, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Evaristo
Aguirre and others, proposed to write a novel
about the Philippines, which his peers approved.

The novel was dedicated to his fatherland and

revealed the following:
• Political and social conditions of the Philippines
at the time
• Social cancer based on wrong beliefs and
lifestyle
• Abuses committed by Friars and their evil acts
• Abuses committed by the government

Writing of Noli Me Tangere

Publication
• Rizal finished the novel in 1886
but feared it will not be printed
due to lack of funds.
• Rizal deleted the chapter “Elias
and Salome” in the novel to limit
the number of pages.
• Maximo Viola, a scholar from
Bulacan who was also in Madrid
loaned Rizal P300 for printing the
first 2000 copies of the novel.

Writing of Noli Me Tangere

Juan Crisostomo Ibarra
Son of Don Rafael Ibarra
Fiance of Maria Clara.

Protagonist in the novel who was educated

in Europe aiming to establish a school,
unfortunately he became a wanted person
by the Spanish authority.

Some claims Ibarra was Rizal’s reflection

Characters in Noli Me Tangere

Maria Clara de los Santos
Daughter of Doña Pia Alba (wife of Kapitan
Tiago) and Father Damaso
Raised by Kapitan Tiago (Santiago Delos
Santos)
Fiance of Ibarra.

A known true Filipina character with

religious upbringing and refined behavior.

Most beautiful and celebrated girl in San

Diego

Characters in Noli Me Tangere

Don Rafael Ibarra
Father of Crisostomo Ibarra

Liberal minded person, who the friars

despised (Father Damaso).

Imprisoned and died, his body was

desecrated.

Characters in Noli Me Tangere

Father (Padre) Damaso
Verdolagas
Evil Friar and the main antagonist of the
novel

Franciscan Friar and former Curate of San

Diego

He is a notorious character and cruel priest

who speak harsh words

Characters in Noli Me Tangere

Elias
Mysterious character and ally of Ibarra

He wants to free the country from Spanish

oppression through revolutionary means

He saved Ibarra in a shooting incident by

the river and sacrificed his own life for
Ibarra.

Characters in Noli Me Tangere

Kapitan Tiago
Santiago de los Santos, husband of Doña
Pia

He was a businessman and the cabeza de

barangay of San Diego

He was rich and influential and always

favors Spanish officials and Friars.

Characters in Noli Me Tangere

Sisa
A loving mother to her two sons (Basilio
and Crispin)

A submissive wife to Pedro

Persecuted for her son’s alleged stealing

and consequently lost her mind.

Characters in Noli Me Tangere

Basilio
Brother of Crispin and one of Sisa’s son

Together with his brother, they served as

religious workers in the parochial church.

He had an encounter with Ibarra and Elias

that will continue in El Filibusterismo

Characters in Noli Me Tangere

The plot revolves around Crisostomo Ibarra, mixed-race heir of a
wealthy clan, returning home after seven years in Europe and filled with
ideas on how to better the lot of his countrymen. Striving for reforms, he
is confronted by an abusive ecclesiastical hierarchy and a Spanish civil
administration by turns indifferent and cruel. The novel suggests,
through plot developments, that meaningful change in this context is
exceedingly difficult, if not impossible.
The death of Ibarra’s father, Don Rafael, prior to his homecoming, and
the refusal of a Catholic burial by Padre Damaso, the parish priest,
provokes Ibarra into hitting the priest, for which Ibarra is
excommunicated. The decree is rescinded, however, when the governor
general intervenes. The friar and his successor, Padre Salvi, embody the
rotten state of the clergy. Their tangled feelings—one paternal, the other
carnal—for Maria Clara, Ibarra’s sweetheart and rich Capitan Tiago’s
beautiful daughter, steel their determination to spoil Ibarra’s plans for a
school. The town philosopher Tasio wryly notes similar past attempts
have failed, and his sage commentary makes clear that all colonial
masters fear that an enlightened people will throw off the yoke of
oppression.

Noli Me Tangere – The Plot

Precisely how to accomplish this is the novel’s central question, and one which Ibarra
debates with the mysterious Elias, with whose life his is intertwined. The privileged
Ibarra favors peaceful means, while Elias, who has suffered injustice at the hands of
the authorities, believes violence is the only option.
Ibarra’s enemies, particularly Salvi, implicate him in a fake insurrection, though the
evidence against him is weak. Then Maria Clara betrays him to protect a dark family
secret, public exposure of which would be ruinous. Ibarra escapes from prison with
Elias’s help and confronts her. She explains why, Ibarra forgives her, and he and
Elias flee to the lake. But chased by the Guardia Civil, one dies while the other
survives. Convinced Ibarra’s dead, Maria Clara enters the nunnery, refusing a
marriage arranged by Padre Damaso. Her unhappy fate and that of the more
memorable Sisa, driven mad by the fate of her sons, symbolize the country’s
condition, at once beautiful and miserable.
Using satire brilliantly, Rizal creates other memorable characters whose lives
manifest the poisonous effects of religious and colonial oppression. Capitan Tiago;
the social climber Doña Victorina de Espadaña and her toothless Spanish husband;
the Guardia Civil head and his harridan of a wife; the sorority of devout women; the
disaffected peasants forced to become outlaws: in sum, a microcosm of Philippine
society. In the afflictions that plague them, Rizal paints a harrowing picture of his
beloved but suffering country in a work that speaks eloquently not just to Filipinos
but to all who have endured or witnessed oppression.

Noli Me Tangere – The Plot

July 3, 1887 – Rizal boarded Djemnah his
goal were
• Check what happened to his novel
• Check what happened to Leonor
• Cure his mother’s cataract
The novel was praised by nationalist and
liberals but was condemned by Spanish
authorities except then Governor General
Emilio Terrero
August 6, 1887 – Rizal arrived in Manila and
gave a courtesy call to the Governor
General and gave him a copy of Noli Me
Tangere, Rizal was given a bodyguard (Lt.
Jose Taviel de Andrade)

Rizal’s First Homecoming

Reactions to Noli Me Tangere
Reactions to Noli Me Tangere
Friars accused Rizal of being Bismark’s spy
He served as a doctor in Calamba (Doctor
Uliman) and earned P 5000 before he left
He tried to visit Leonor Rivera in Tarlac but
his parents forbade him for Leonor’s
mother did not like him.
Rizal were gladly welcomed by the Jesuits
priests but warned him because his novel
exposed the truth
Censorship Committee headed by Fr.
Salvador Font declared the novel
subversive and heretic
Calamba and other agrarian lands were
investigated by Gov. Gen Terrero

Rizal’s First Homecoming

The friars were angry on Rizal’s
interference on their affairs and pressure
the Governor General to deport Rizal, but
the Governor refused

Anonymous threat frightened Rizal’s family,

Andrade, Terrero and Rizal’s friend advised
him to leave the country

Realizing that his presence will jeopardized

the safety of his family and friend and that
he can better fight his enemies and
exposed their abuses if he was in abroad
he left the country on February 3, 1888

Rizal’s First Homecoming

Assignment
Gr. 1 – Chap.1 Social Gathering
Gr. 2 – Chap.11 The Rulers
Gr. 3 – Chap.14 Tacio: Lunatic
or Sage
Gr. 4 – Chap.61 The Chase on
the Lake
Gr. 5 – Chap.63 Christmas Eve