Noli Me Tangere is a
novelA novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by
FilipinoThe Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
polymathA polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
José RizalJosé Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...
and first published in 1887 in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Early English translations used titles like An Eagle Flight and The Social Cancer, but more recent translations have been published using the
original LatinNoli me tangere, meaning "don't touch me" / "touch me not", is the Latin version of words spoken, according to , by Jesus to Mary Magdalene when she recognizes him after his resurrection....
title.
Though originally written in
SpanishSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, it is more commonly published and read in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
in either
FilipinoThis move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...
or
EnglishPhilippine English is the variety of English used in the Philippines by the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos. English is taught in schools as one of the two official languages of the country, the other being Filipino, a standardized version of Tagalog.English is used in education,...
. Together with its sequel,
El FilibusterismoEl filibusterismo , also known by its English alternate title The Reign of Greed, is the second novel written by Philippine national hero José Rizal. It is the sequel to Noli Me Tangere and like the first book, was written in Spanish. It was first published in 1891 in Ghent, Belgium...
, the reading of Noli is obligatory for
junior high school studentsDuring the period of governance of Spain and the United States, education in the Philippines changed radically, mostly modeled on the system of education in the United States of the time...
all throughout the archipelago.
Plot
Having completed his studies in Europe, young Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin comes back to the Philippines after a 7-year absence. In his honor, Don Santiago de los Santos, a family friend commonly known as Captain Tiago, threw a get-together party, which was attended by friars and other prominent figures. One of the guests, former San Diego curate Fray Dámaso Vardolagas belittled and slandered Ibarra. Ibarra brushed off the insults and took no offense; he instead politely excused himself and left the party because of an allegedly important task.
The next day, Ibarra visits María Clara, his betrothed, the beautiful daughter of Captain Tiago and affluent resident of
BinondoBinondo is an enclave in Manila primarily populated by ethnic Chinese living in the Philippines. Chinatown, Manila is the oldest Chinatown in the world, established in 1594. Historically, this was where the Spanish permitted converted sangleys, their indigenous Filipino wives, and their mixed-race...
. Their long-standing love was clearly manifested in this meeting, and María Clara cannot help but reread the letters her sweetheart had written her before he went to Europe. Before Ibarra left for San Diego, Lieutenant Guevara, a
Civil GuardThe Civil Guard is the Spanish gendarmerie. It has foreign peace-keeping missions and maintains military status and is the equivalent of a federal military-status police force. As a police force, the Guardia Civil is comparable today to the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri and the...
, reveals to him the incidents preceding the death of his father, Don Rafael Ibarra, a rich
hacenderoHacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...
of the town.
According to Guevara, Don Rafael was unjustly accused of being a heretic, in addition to being a subservient — an allegation brought forth by Dámaso because of Don Rafael's non-participation in the
SacramentA sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
s, such as
ConfessionThis article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
and
MassThe Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
. Dámaso's animosity against Ibarra's father is aggravated by another incident when Don Rafael helped out on a fight between a tax collector and a child fighting, and the former's death was blamed on him, although it was not deliberate. Suddenly, all of those who thought ill of him surfaced with additional complaints. He was imprisoned, and just when the matter was almost settled, he died of sickness in jail. Still not content with what he had done, Dámaso arranged for Don Rafael's corpse to be dug up from the Catholic Church and brought to a Chinese cemetery, because he thought it inappropriate to allow a heretic a Catholic burial ground. Unfortunately, it was raining and because of the bothersome weight of the body, the undertakers decide to throw the corpse into a nearby lake.
Revenge was not in Ibarra's plans, instead he carried through his father's plan of putting up a school, since he believed that education would pave the way to his country's progress (all over the novel the author refers to both Spain and the Philippines as two different countries as part of a same nation or family, with Spain seen as the mother and the Philippines as the daughter). During the inauguration of the school, Ibarra would have been killed in a sabotage had Elías — a mysterious man who had warned Ibarra earlier of a plot to assassinate him — not saved him. Instead the hired killer met an unfortunate incident and died. The sequence of events proved to be too traumatic for María Clara who got seriously ill but was luckily cured by the medicine Ibarra sent.
After the inauguration, Ibarra hosted a luncheon during which Dámaso, gate-crashing the luncheon, again insulted him. Ibarra ignored the priest's insolence, but when the latter slandered the memory of his dead father, he was no longer able to restrain himself and lunged at Dámaso, prepared to stab him for his impudence. As a consequence, Dámaso
excommunicatedExcommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
Ibarra, taking this opportunity to persuade the already-hesitant Tiago to forbid his daughter from marrying Ibarra. The friar wished María Clara to marry Linares, a
PeninsularIn the colonial caste system of Spanish America, a peninsular was a Spanish-born Spaniard or mainland Spaniard residing in the New World, as opposed to a person of full Spanish descent born in the Americas or Philippines...
who had just arrived from Spain.
With the help of the Governor-General, Ibarra's excommunication was nullified and the Archbishop decided to accept him as a member of the
ChurchThe Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, in full communion with the Pope.With 73.8 million members in 2005, it is the predominant religion, making the Philippines the third largest "Catholic" nation in the world after Brazil and Mexico, as well as one...
once again. But, as fate would have it, some incident of which Ibarra had known nothing about was blamed on him, and he is wrongly arrested and imprisoned. The accusation against him was then overruled because during the litigation that followed, nobody could testify that he was indeed involved. Unfortunately, his letter to María Clara somehow got into the hands of the jury and is manipulated such that it then became evidence against him by the parish priest, Fray Salví. With Machiavellian precision, Salví framed Ibarra and ruined his life just so he could stop him from marrying María Clara and making the latter his concubine.
Meanwhile, in Capitan Tiago's residence, a party was being held to announce the upcoming wedding of María Clara and Linares. Ibarra, with the help of Elías, took this opportunity to escape from prison. Before leaving, Ibarra spoke to María Clara and accused her of betraying him, thinking that she gave the letter he wrote her to the jury. María Clara explained that she would never conspire against him, but that she was forced to surrender Ibarra's letter to Father Salvi, in exchange for the letters written by her mother even before she, María Clara, was born. The letters were from her mother, Pía Alba, to Dámaso alluding to their unborn child; and that María Clara was therefore not Captain Tiago's biological daughter, but Dámaso's.
Afterwards, Ibarra and Elías fled by boat. Elías instructed Ibarra to lie down, covering him with grass to conceal his presence. As luck would have it, they were spotted by their enemies. Elías, thinking he could outsmart them, jumped into the water. The guards rained shots on him, all the while not knowing that they were aiming at the wrong man.
María Clara, thinking that Ibarra had been killed in the shooting incident, was greatly overcome with grief. Robbed of hope and severely disillusioned, she asked Dámaso to confine her into a nunnery. Dámaso reluctantly agreed when she threatened to take her own life, demanding, "the nunnery or death!" Unbeknownst to her, Ibarra was still alive and able to escape. It was Elías who had taken the shots.
It was Christmas Eve when Elías woke up in the forest fatally wounded, as it is here where he instructed Ibarra to meet him. Instead, Elías found the altar boy Basilio cradling his already-dead mother, Sisa. The latter lost her mind when she learned that her two sons, Crispín and Basilio, were chased out of the convent by the sacristan mayor on suspicions of stealing sacred objects. (The truth is that, it was the sacristan mayor who stole the objects and only pinned the blame on the two boys. The said sacristan mayor actually killed Crispín while interrogating him on the supposed location of the sacred objects. It was implied that the body was never found and the incident was covered-up by Salví).
Elías, convinced that he would die soon, instructs Basilio to build a funeral pyre and burn his and Sisa's bodies to ashes. He tells Basilio that, if nobody reaches the place, he come back later on and dig for he will find gold. He also tells him (Basilio) to take the gold he finds and go to school. In his dying breath, he instructed Basilio to continue dreaming about freedom for his motherland with the words:
Elías died thereafter.
In the epilogue, it was explained that Tiago became addicted to opium and was seen to frequent the opium house in Binondo to satiate his addiction. María Clara became a nun where Salví, who has lusted after her from the beginning of the novel, regularly used her to fulfill his lust. One stormy evening, a beautiful crazy woman was seen at the top of the convent crying and cursing the heavens for the fate it has handed her. While the woman was never identified, it is suggested that the said woman was María Clara.
Publication history
Rizal finished the novel on December 1886. At first, according to one of Rizal's biographers, Rizal feared the novel might not be printed, and that it would remain unread. He was struggling with financial constraints at the time and thought it would be hard to pursue printing the novel. A financial aid came from a friend named Máximo Viola which helped him print his book at a fine print media in Berlin named Berliner Buchdruckerei-Actiengesellschaft. Rizal at first, however, hesitated but Viola insisted and ended up lending Rizal
PThe peso is the currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 centavos . Before 1967, the language used on the banknotes and coins was English and so "peso" was the name used...
300 for 2,000 copies; Noli was eventually printed in Berlin, Germany. The printing was finished earlier than the estimated five months. Viola arrived in Berlin in December 1886, and by March 21, 1887, Rizal had sent a copy of the novel to his friend Blumentritt.
On August 21, 2007, a 480-page then-latest English version of Noli Me Tangere was released to major Australian book stores.
The Australian edition of the novel was published by Penguin Books Classics, to represent the publication's "commitment to publish the major literary classics of the world". American writer
Harold AugenbraumHarold Augenbraum is an American writer, editor, and translator. He is currently Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, member of the Board of Trustees of the Asian American Writers Workshop, and former vice chair of the New York Council for the Humanities...
, who first read the Noli in 1992, translated the novel. A writer well-acquainted with translating other
HispanophoneHispanophone or Hispanosphere denotes Spanish language speakers and the Spanish-speaking world. The word derives from the Latin political name of the Iberian Peninsula, Hispania, which comprised basically the territory of the modern states of Spain and Portugal.Hispanophones are estimated at...
literary works, Augenbraum proposed to translate the novel after being asked for his next assignment in the publishing company. Intrigued by the novel and knowing more about it, Penguin nixed their plan of adapting existing English versions and instead translated it on their own.
Reaction and legacy
Noli Me Tangere was Rizal's first novel. He was 26 years old at the time of its publication.
This novel and its sequel,
El filibusterismoEl filibusterismo , also known by its English alternate title The Reign of Greed, is the second novel written by Philippine national hero José Rizal. It is the sequel to Noli Me Tangere and like the first book, was written in Spanish. It was first published in 1891 in Ghent, Belgium...
(nicknamed El Fili), were banned in some parts of the
PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
because of their portrayal of corruption and abuse by the country's Spanish government and clergy. Copies of the book were smuggled in nevertheless, and when Rizal returned to the Philippines after completing medical studies, he quickly ran afoul of the local government. A few days after his arrival, Governor-General Emilio Terrero summoned Rizal to the
Malacañang PalaceThe Malacañan Palace, commonly known simply as Malacañang, is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the Philippines. Located at 1000 J. P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, Manila, the house was built in 1750 in Spanish Colonial style. It has been the residence of every...
and told him of the charge that Noli Me Tangere contained subversive statements. After a discussion, the Governor General was appeased but still unable to offer resistance against the pressure of the Church against the book. The persecution can be discerned from Rizal's letter to Leitmeritz:
Rizal was exiled to
DapitanThe City of Dapitan is a 4th class city in the province of Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 68,178 people in 13,560 households...
, then later arrested for "inciting rebellion" based largely on his writings. Rizal was executed in Manila on December 30, 1896 at the age of thirty-five.
Rizal depicted nationality by emphasizing the qualities of Filipinos: the devotion of a Filipina and her influence on a man's life, the deep sense of gratitude, and the solid common sense of the Filipinos under the Spanish regime.
The work was instrumental in creating a unified
Filipino national identityThe Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
and consciousness, as many natives previously identified with their respective regions. It
lampoonA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
ed, caricatured and exposed various elements in colonial society. Two characters in particular have become classics in Filipino culture: Maria Clara, who has become a personification of the ideal Filipina woman, loving and unwavering in her loyalty to her spouse; and the priest Father Dámaso, who reflects the covert fathering of illegitimate children by members of the Spanish clergy.
The book indirectly influenced a revolution, even though the author actually advocated direct representation to the Spanish government and a larger role for the
PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
within Spain's political affairs. In 1956, the
Congress of the PhilippinesThe Congress of the Philippines is the national legislature of the Republic of the Philippines. It is a bicameral body consisting of the Senate , and the House of Representatives although commonly in the Philippines the term congress refers to the latter.The Senate is composed of 24 senators half...
passed the Republic Act 1425, more popularly known as the
Rizal LawRepublic Act No. 1425, known as the Rizal Law, mandates all educational institutions in the Philippines to offer courses about José Rizal. The full name of the law is An Act to Include in the Curricula of All Public and Private Schools, Colleges and Universities Courses On the Life, Works and...
, which requires all levels of Philippine schools to teach the novel as part of their curriculum. Noli Me Tangere is being taught to third year secondary school students, while its sequel
El filibusterismoEl filibusterismo , also known by its English alternate title The Reign of Greed, is the second novel written by Philippine national hero José Rizal. It is the sequel to Noli Me Tangere and like the first book, was written in Spanish. It was first published in 1891 in Ghent, Belgium...
is being taught for fourth year secondary school students. The novels are incorporated to their study and survey of Philippine literature.
Ibarra
Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin, commonly referred to the novel as
Ibarra or
Crisóstomo, is the protagonist in the story. Son of a Filipino businessman,
DonDon, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
Rafael Ibarra, he studied in Europe for seven years. Ibarra is also María Clara's fiancé. Several sources claim that Ibarra is also Rizal's reflection: both studied in Europe and both persons believe in the same ideas. Upon his return, Ibarra requested the local government of San Diego to construct a public school to promote education in the town.
In the sequel of Noli,
El filibusterismoEl filibusterismo , also known by its English alternate title The Reign of Greed, is the second novel written by Philippine national hero José Rizal. It is the sequel to Noli Me Tangere and like the first book, was written in Spanish. It was first published in 1891 in Ghent, Belgium...
, Ibarra returned with different character and name: he called himself as
Simoun, the
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
mestizoMestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
.
María Clara
María ClaraMaría Clara, whose full name is María Clara de los Santos, Rizal also described her as Inang Pilipinas is the mestiza heroine in Noli Me Tangere, a novel by José Rizal, the national hero of the Republic of the Philippines...
de los Santos y Alba, commonly referred to as
María Clara, is Ibarra's fiancée. She was raised by Capitán Tiago, San Diego's
cabeza de barangayThe Cabeza de Barangay was the leader or chief of a barangay in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. The post was inherited from the first datus who became cabezas de barangay when the many independent barangays fell under the rule of the Spanish Crown...
and is the most beautiful and widely celebrated girl in San Diego. In the later parts of the novel, María Clara's identity was revealed as an illegitimate daughter of Father Dámaso, former parish
curateA curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
of the town, and Doña Pía Alba, wife of Capitán Tiago. In the end she entered local covenant for nuns Beaterio de Santa Clara. In the epilogue dealing with the fate of the characters, Rizal stated that it is unknown if María Clara is still living within the walls of the covenant or she is already dead.
The character of María Clara was patterned after
Leonor RiveraLeonor Rivera–Kipping was the childhood sweetheart, first cousin, and “lover by correspondence” of Philippine national hero José Rizal. Rivera was the “greatest influence” in preventing Rizal from falling in love with other women while Rizal was traveling outside the Philippines...
, Rizal's first cousin and childhood sweetheart.
Capitán Tiago
DonDon, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
Santiago de los Santos, known by his nickname
Tiago and political title
Capitán Tiago is a Filipino businessman and the
cabeza de barangayThe Cabeza de Barangay was the leader or chief of a barangay in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. The post was inherited from the first datus who became cabezas de barangay when the many independent barangays fell under the rule of the Spanish Crown...
or head of
barangayA barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward...
of the town of San Diego. He is also the known father of
María ClaraMaría Clara, whose full name is María Clara de los Santos, Rizal also described her as Inang Pilipinas is the mestiza heroine in Noli Me Tangere, a novel by José Rizal, the national hero of the Republic of the Philippines...
.
In the novel, it is said that Capitán Tiago is the richest man in the region of Binondo and he possessed real properties in
PampangaPampanga is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Pampanga is bordered by the provinces of Bataan and Zambales to the west, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija to the north, and Bulacan to the southeast...
and
Laguna de BayLaguna de Bay is the largest lake in the Philippines and the third largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia after Tonle Sap in Cambodia and Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. It is on the island of Luzon between the provinces of Laguna to the south and Rizal to the north...
. He is also said to be a good Catholic, friend of the Spanish government and was considered as a Spanish by colonialists. Capitán Tiago never attended school, so he became a domestic helper of a
DominicanThe Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
friarA friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
who taught him informal education. He married Pía Alba from
Santa CruzSanta Cruz is located on the right bank of the Pasig River, on the northern portion of the City of Manila, near the mouth of the river, in between the districts of Tondo and Quiapo...
.
Padre Dámaso
Dámaso Verdolagas, or Padre Dámaso is a
FranciscanMost Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
friarA friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
and the former parish curate of San Diego. He is best known as a notorious character who speaks with harsh words and has been a cruel priest during his stay in the town. He is the real father of María Clara and an enemy of Crisóstomo's father, Rafael Ibarra. Later, he and María Clara had bitter arguments whether she would marry Alfonso Linares or go to a convent. At the end of the novel, he is again re-assigned to a distant town and is found dead one day.
In popular culture, when a priest was said to be like Padre Dámaso, it means that he is a cruel but respectable individual. When one says a child is "anak ni Padre Damaso" (child of Padre Dámaso), it means that the child's father's identity is unknown.
Elías
Elías is Ibarra's mysterious friend and ally. Elías made his first appearance as a pilot during a picnic of Ibarra and María Clara and her friends. He wants to revolutionize the country and to be freed from Spanish oppression.
The 50th chapter of the novel explores the past of Elías and history of his family. In the past, Ibarra's great-grandfather condemned Elías' grandfather of burning a warehouse which led into misfortune for Elías' family. His father was refused to be married by his mother because his father's past and family lineage was discovered by his mother's family. In the long run, Elías and his twin sister was raised by their maternal grandfather. When they were teenagers, their distant relatives called them hijos de bastardo or illegitimate children. One day, his sister disappeared which led him to search for her. His search led him into different places, and finally, he became a fugitive and subversive.
Filosofo Tacio
Filosofo Tacio, known by his
FilipinizedThis move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...
name Pilosopo Tasyo is another major character in the story. Seeking for reforms from the government, he expresses his ideals in paper written in a cryptographic alphabet similar from hieroglyphs and
Coptic figuresThe Coptic alphabet is the script used for writing the Coptic language. The repertoire of glyphs is based on the Greek alphabet augmented by letters borrowed from the Demotic and is the first alphabetic script used for the Egyptian language...
hoping "that the future generations may be able to decipher it" and realized the abuse and oppression done by the conquerors.
His full name is only known as
Don Anastacio. The educated inhabitants of San Diego labeled him as Filosofo Tacio (Tacio the Sage) while others called him as Tacio el Loco (Insane Tacio) due to his exceptional talent for reasoning.
Doña Victorina
Doña Victorina de los Reyes de Espadaña, commonly known as Doña Victorina, is an ambitious Filipina who classifies herself as a Spanish and mimics Spanish ladies by putting on heavy make-up. The novel narrates Doña Victorina's younger days: she had lots of admirers, but she did not choose any of them because nobody was a Spaniard. Later on, she met and married Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, an official of the customs bureau who is about ten years her junior. However, their marriage is childless.
Her husband assumes the title of medical doctor even though he never attended medical school; using fake documents and certificates, Tiburcio practices illegal medicine. Tiburcio's usage of the title Dr. consequently makes Victorina assume the title Dra. (doctora, female doctor). Apparently, she uses the whole name
Doña Victorina de los Reyes de de Espadaña, with double de to emphasize her marriage surname. She seems to feel that this awkward titling makes her more "sophisticated."
Sisa, Crispín, and Basilio
Sisa, Crispín, and Basilio represent a Filipino family persecuted by the Spanish authorities.
Narcisa or Sisa is the deranged mother of Basilio and Crispín. Described as beautiful and young, although she loves her children very much, she can not protect them from the beatings of her husband,
Pedro.
Crispín is Sisa's 7-year-old son. An altar boy, he was unjustly accused of stealing money from the church. After failing to force Crispín to return the money he allegedly stole, Father Salví and the head sacristan killed him. It is not directly stated that he was killed, but the dream of Basilio suggests that Crispín died during his encounter with Padre Salvi and his minion.
Basilio is Sisa's 10-year-old son. An acolyte tasked to ring the church bells for the Angelus, he faced the dread of losing his younger brother and the descent of his mother into insanity. At the end of the novel, Elías wished Basilio to bury him by burning in exchange of chest of gold located on his death ground. He will later play a major role in
El FilibusterismoEl filibusterismo , also known by its English alternate title The Reign of Greed, is the second novel written by Philippine national hero José Rizal. It is the sequel to Noli Me Tangere and like the first book, was written in Spanish. It was first published in 1891 in Ghent, Belgium...
.
Due to their tragic but endearing story, these characters are often parodied in modern Filipino popular culture.
Other characters
There are a number of secondary and minor characters in Noli Me Tangere. Items indicated inside the parenthesis are the standard
FilipinizationThis move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...
of the Spanish names in the novel.
- Padre Hernando de la Sibyla – a Dominican friar. He is described as short and has fair skin. He is instructed by an old priest in his order to watch Crisóstomo Ibarra.
- Padre Bernardo Salví – the Franciscan curate of San Diego, secretly harboring lust for María Clara. He is described to be very thin and sickly. It is also hinted that his last name, "Salvi" is the shorter form of "Salvi" meaning Salvation, or "Salvi" is short for "Salvaje" meaning bad hinting to the fact that he is willing to kill an innocent child, Crispin, just to get his money back, though there was not enough evidence that it was Crispin who has stolen his 2 onzas.
- El Alférez or Alperes – chief of the Guardia Civil. Mortal enemy of the priests for power in San Diego and husband of Doña Consolacion.
- Doña Consolacíon – wife of the Alférez, nicknamed as la musa de los guardias civiles (The muse of the Civil Guards) or la Alféreza, was a former laundrywoman who passes herself as a Peninsular; best remembered for her abusive treatment of Sisa.
- Don Tiburcio de Espadaña – Spanish Quack Doctor who is limp and submissive to his wife, Doña Victorina.
- Teniente Guevara - a close friend of Don Rafael Ibarra. He reveals to Crisóstomo how Don Rafael Ibarra's death came about.
- Alfonso Linares – A distant nephew of Tiburcio de Espanada, the would-be fiancé of María Clara. Although he presented himself as a practitioner of law, it was later revealed that he, just like Don Tiburcio, is a fraud. He later died due to given medications of Don Tiburcio.
- Tía Isabel - Capitán Tiago's cousin, who raised Maria Clara.
- Governor General
The Governor-General of the Philippines was the title of the government executive during the colonial period of the Philippines, governed mainly by Spain and the United States, and briefly by Great Britain, from 1565 to 1935....
(Gobernador Heneral) – Unnamed person in the novel, he is the most powerful official in the Philippines. He has great disdain for the friars and corrupt officials, and sympathizes with Ibarra.
- Don Filipo Lino – vice mayor of the town of San Diego, leader of the liberals.
- Padre Manuel Martín - he is the linguist curate of a nearby town who delivers the sermon during San Diego's fiesta.
- Don Rafael Ibarra - father of Crisóstomo Ibarra. Though he is the richest man in San Diego, he is also the most virtuous and generous.
- Dona Pía Alba - wife of Capitan Tiago and mother of María Clara, she died giving birth to her daughter. In reality, she was raped by Dámaso so she could bear a child.
Non-recurring characters
These characters were mentioned in the novel, appeared once, mentioned many times or have no major contribution to the storyline.
- Don Pedro Eibarramendia - the great-grandfather of Crisóstomo Ibarra who came from the Basque
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
area of Spain. He started the misfortunes of Elias' family. His descendants abbreviated their surname to Ibarra. He died of unknown reasons, but was seen as a decaying corpse on a Balite Tree.
- Don Saturnino Ibarra - the son of Don Pedro, father of Don Rafael and grandfather of Crisóstomo Ibarra. He was the one who developed the town of San Diego. He was described as a cruel man but was very clever.
- Salomé - Elías' sweetheart. She lives in a little house by the lake, and though Elías would like to marry her, he tells her that it would do her or their children no good to be related to a fugitive like himself. In the original publication of Noli, the chapter that explores the identity of Elías and Salomé was omitted, classifying her as a total non-existing character. This chapter, entitled Elías y Salomé was probably the 25th chapter of the novel. However, recent editions and translations of Noli provides the inclusion of this chapter, either on the appendix or renamed as Chapter X (Ex).
- Sinang - Maria Clara's friend. Because Crisóstomo Ibarra offered half of the school he was building to Sinang, he gained Capitan Basilio's support.
- Iday, Andeng and Victoria - Maria Clara's other friends.
- Capitán Basilio - Sinang's father, leader of the conservatives.
- Pedro – the abusive husband of Sisa who loves cockfighting.
- Tandáng Pablo – The leader of the tulisanes (bandits), whose family was destroyed because of the Spaniards.
- El hombre amarillo (apparently means "yellowish person", named as Taong Madilaw) - One of Crisostomo Ibarra's would-be assassins. He is not named in the novel, and only described as such. In the novel, he carved the cornerstone for Ibarra's school. Instead of killing Ibarra, he was killed by his cornerstone.
- Lucas - the brother of the taong madilaw. He planned a revolution against the government with Ibarra as the leader after he was turned down by Ibarra. He was said to have a scar on his left cheek. He would later be killed by the Sakristan Mayor.
- Bruno and Tarsilo – a pair of brothers whose father was killed by the Spaniards.
- Ñor Juan (Ñol Juan) - appointed as foreman of the school to be built by Ibarra
- Capitana Tika - Sinang's mother and wife of Capitan Basilio.
- Albino - a former seminarian who joined the picnic with Ibarra and María Clara. Was later captured during the revolution.
- Capitana María Elena - a nationalist woman who defends Ibarra of the memory of his father.
- Capitán Tinong and Capitán Valentín - other known people from the town of San Diego.
- Sacristán Mayor - The one who governs the altar boys and killed Crispín for his accusation.
Translation
Noli Me Tangere has been translated to several languages at the start of the 20th century.
- Au Pays des Moines (The Land of the Monks) (1899, French
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) by Henri Lucas and Ramon Sempau.
- Friars and Filipinos (1900, English
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
) by Frank Ernest GannettFrank Ernest Gannett is the founder of Gannett media corporation.-Biography:Gannett was born in South Bristol, New York, United States, graduated from Bolivar High School , Bolivar, NY in 1893, and graduated from Cornell University. At the age of 30, he purchased his first newspaper, the Elmira...
.
- Huwag Akong Salangin Nino Man (Somebody Touch Me Not) (1906, Tagalog
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
) by Dr. Pascual H. PobletePascual H. Poblete was a Filipino writer and feminist, remarkably noted as the first translator of Dr. José Rizal's novel Noli Me Tangere into Tagalog language.-Early life and education:...
.
- The Social Cancer (1912, English) by Charles Derbyshire
Charles Derbyshire was an American translator active around the turn of the twentieth century. His most famous translations were of the poetry and novels of the Filipino writer and political activist Jose Rizal, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, both of which were published in 1912...
.
- Noli me Tangere: Filippijnsche roman (Noli Me Tangere: Filipino Novel) by Abraham Anthony Fokker.
- "Noli Me Tangere" : A Complete English Translation of Noli Me Tangere from the Spanish of Dr. Jose Rizal (1956, English) by Senator Camilo Osías
Camilo Osías was a Filipino politician, twice for a short time President of the Senate of the Philippines....
.
- The Lost Eden (1961, English) by Leon Ma. Guerrero
León María Ignacio Agapito Guerrero y Francisco , better known simply as Leon Ma. Guerrero III, was a Filipino diplomat and novelist, and was one of the foremost Filipino nationalists of his era. A partner in the law practice of senator Claro M. Recto, he became Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs...
.
- Noli Me Tangere (1997, English) by Maria Soledad Locsin.
- Noli Me Tangere (1997, Tagalog) by Virgilio Almario.
- Noli Me Tangere (2006, English) by Harold Augenbraum
Harold Augenbraum is an American writer, editor, and translator. He is currently Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, member of the Board of Trustees of the Asian American Writers Workshop, and former vice chair of the New York Council for the Humanities...
. Published by Penguin Classics.
Adaptations
The Noli has been adapted for literature, theater, television, and film.
- 1915: Noli Me Tangere, a silent film adaptation by Edward M. Gross.
- 1930: Noli Me Tangere, another silent film adaptation, directed by José Nepomuceno
José Nepomuceno was one of the pioneering directors of the cinema of the Philippines. He is also known as the founder of Philippine movies. It was in 1919 when he produced the first Filipino silent film entitled Dalagang Bukid. The film starred Atang de la Rama, a future National Artist of the...
under Malayan Movies.
- 1951: National Artist for Cinema
A National Artist of the Philippines is a title given to a Filipino who has been given the highest recognition for having made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts...
Gerardo de LeónGerardo de León was a Filipino actor turned film director, who made his acting debut in the 1934 film Ang Dangal....
directed a motion picture titled Sisa, starring Anita LindaAnita Linda is a two-time FAMAS award-winning and Gawad Urian award-winning Filipino film actress. A romantic lead in her youth, she later gained critical acclaim for her portrayals in maternal or elderly roles...
in the role of the titular character.
- 1961: Noli Me Tangere, a faithful film adaptation of the novel, was directed by Gerardo de León for Bayanihan-Arriva Productions, featuring Eddie del Mar
Eduardo del Mar is a Filipino actor, famous for his role as the Philippine hero José Rizal.-Filmography:*1947 - Ang Kapilya sa Daangbakal, Sampaguita*1948 - Kaputol ng Isang Awit, Sampaguita...
in the role of Crisostomo Ibarra. Released for the birth centenary of José Rizal, the motion picture was awarded the Best Picture in the 10th FAMAS Awards.
- 1992: Noli Me Tangere, a 13-episode TV series by Eddie S. Romero
Eddie Romero is an acclaimed and influential Filipino film director, film producer and screenwriter, considered one of the finest in the Cinema of the Philippines.Romero was named National Artist of the Philippines in 2003....
. This adaptation features Joel Torre in the role of Crisóstomo Ibarra, Chin Chin GutierrezMaria Carminia Lourdes Cynthia Arnaldo Gutierrez , better known as Chin Chin Gutierrez, is a Filipino actress and environmentalist.-Early life:...
as María Clara, and Tetchie AgbayaniVisitacion Parado, who is better known by her screen name Tetchie Agbayani, is a Filipina movie and television actress, Mutya ng Pilipinas, psychology instructor and Playboy model. She appeared in a regular issue of German Playboy and a special American edition entitled "Women of the World"...
as Sisa.
- 1994: Noli Me Tangere, a musical adaptation of the novel.
- Several excerpts from Noli Me Tangere were dramatized in the 1998 film José Rizal
José Rizal is a 1998 award-winning Filipino film biopic directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya.It was GMA Films' entry to the 1998 Metro Manila Film Festival. It is touted as one of the biggest films ever made in the history of Philippine cinema with a record-breaking P80-million budget despite the fact...
, with Joel Torre as Crisóstomo Ibarra, and Monique Wilson as Maria Clara.
- 1999: Sisa, a remake of the 1951 film of the same name. Written and directed by Mario O'Hara
Mario O'Hara is an award winning Filipino film director, film producer and screenwriter known for his sense of realism often with dark but realistic social messages. He is of American descent....
.
- 2005: Noli Me Tangere 2, a modern literary adaptation of the novel written by Roger Olivares
Rogelio "Roger" P. Olivares is a Filipino author.A graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University and the University of Illinois , he once lived in New York, San Francisco, Guam, Spain, and in the island of Crete in Greece...
.
- 2008-2009: Noli at Fili: Dekada 2000, a stage adaptation of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo
El filibusterismo , also known by its English alternate title The Reign of Greed, is the second novel written by Philippine national hero José Rizal. It is the sequel to Noli Me Tangere and like the first book, was written in Spanish. It was first published in 1891 in Ghent, Belgium...
by the Philippine Educational Theater Association, set in the present day. Written by Nicanor G. Tiongson and directed by Soxie Topacio.
External links
- Book notes/Summary in Tagalog (Noli Me Tangere)
- Book notes/Summary in English (The Social Cancer)
- Complete English version (The Social Cancer)
- Full Text English translation
- Complete text: HTML, images, OCR
- Charles Derbyshire English translation
- Pascual Poblete Tagalog translation
- Noli Me Tangere: Deciphered in Filipino
- Rizal's Little Odyssey
- Noli Me Tangere 13-episode television series from the Cultural Center of the Philippines
- Tribute to Jose Rizal, Noli me tangere, cancer of the eyelids
- Caiñgat Cayo!
- Fan Language, an article by Ambeth R. Ocampo regarding romantic practices and sensual undertones which can be found in the unabridged version of Noli Me Tangere, from his Looking Back column on the pages of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, popularly known as the Inquirer, is the most widely read broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines, with a daily circulation of 260,000 copies. It is one of the Philippines' newspapers of record...
on February 2, 2005, page 13, news.google.com