Noli Me Tangere

The Noli me tángere can be regarded as a historical novel, as it has mostly

fictional characters but also historical persons like Father Burgos who lived
in actual places within a social system that was then typical of a colonized
land.
Admittedly, Rizal exaggerated a bit, as in his portrayal of characters like
the friars Damaso, Salvi, and Sibyla; the two women who were preoccupied
with prayers and novenas, and, the Espadañas but, on the whole, the novel
follows the basic rules of realism.
Humor worked best where a more serious presentation of the general
practices of religion during that time (and even up to present time) would
have given the novel a darker and pessimistic tone.
Rizal’s description of the lavish fiesta showed the comic antics at church
and the ridiculous expense for one day of festivities.

Title
Noli me tángere
Literally translated, the Latin words “noli me tángere” means, “touch me
not”
Taken from John 20:17 when Mary Magdalene holds on to Jesus and he

 At the top, all that is best in Philippine life: woman, symbolizing

tells her not to touch him.

constancy, religious faith symbolized by the tombstone, with a laurel

John 20:17

(courage) and the flower of the pomelo, worn by bride and groom at
Jesus said to her: “Stop clinging to me. For I have not yet ascended to the

a wedding and symbolizing purity.

Father . But be on your way to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending

The words partly covered by the title are the secret, inner dedication
to my Father and to your Father and to my God and your God.”

by Rizal to his parents, the complete text being probably: ‘A mis

P(adres.) al escribir e(sta obra he estado) pensando continuamente

Cover

e(n vosotros que me) habeis infundido los (primeros pensamientos) y

1. CROSS- sufferings

las primeras ideas; a (vosotros os dedi)co este manuscrito de me

2. POMELO BLOSSOMS AND LAUREL LEAVES- honor and

(joventud com p)rueba de amor. Berlin, (21 de Febrero de) 1887.

fidelity
3. SILHOUETTE OF A FILIPINA- Maria Clara
4. BURNING TORCH- rage and passion
 To the left of the title, the flower mirasol, representing youth seeking
5. SUNFLOWERS- enlightenment
the sun.
6. BAMBOO STALKS THAT WERE CUT DOWN BUT GREW
The author's name, meaning the green of renewal, mounting up into
BACK- resilience
the green of the most enduring of all Philippine trees, the bamboo.
7. A MAN IN A CASSOCK WITH HAIRY FEET- priests using
 religion in a dirty way
 At the bottom, all that is worst in Philippine life: the helmet of the
8. CHAINS- slavery
Civil Guard, the whip and instruments of torture, and the foot of a
9. WHIPS- cruelties
friar.
10. HELMET OF THE GUARDIA CIVIL- arrogance of those in
authority
*** Read the book for the background of Noli, it includes how he worked on the
paper,etc. In here, it’s merely about the Noli Me Tangere Novel.
Preface
According to Rizal, instead of teaching Filipinos true Catholicism, they
In the preface of his novel Rizal promises “to reproduce the condition (of
control the government by opposing all progress and persecuting members of
the country) faithfully, without discrimination”. He wants to sacrifice “to
the ilustrado unless they make themselves their servile flatterers.
truth everything”.
Rizal wrote in his dedication page in the Noli me tángere, “I will strive to
Rizal does not, however, spare his fellow countrymen.
reproduce thy condition faithfully, without discriminations; I will raise a part
The superstitious and hypocritical fanaticism of many who consider
of the veil that covers the evil…”
themselves religious people;
He clearly stated his intention of giving an accurate picture of the
the ignorance, corruption, and brutality of the Filipino civil guards;
conditions in the Philippines at the time, and this gives the reader a good idea
the passion for gambling unchecked by the thought of duty and
what the main theme would be.
responsibility;

the servility of the wealthy Filipino towards friars and government

Theme
officials;
Theme as an element of fiction is the idea that runs through the whole novel,
the ridiculous efforts of Filipinos to dissociate themselves from their
repeated again and again in various forms and ways.
fellowmen or to lord it over them--all these are ridiculed and disclosed.

The theme of ‘Noli me Tangere’ comes from the Gospel of John. John tells
that when Jesus showed himself after the Resurrection, it was first to Mary
Rizal nevertheless balances the national portrait by highlighting the virtues
Magdalene.
and good qualities of his unspoiled countryman:
Jesus called her and she turned round and saw him. But Jesus did not want
the modesty and devotion of the Filipina, the unstinting hospitality of the
her to touch him. He said literally to her, “Do not cling to me, because I have
Filipino family,
not yet ascended to the Father.
the devotion of parents to their children and children to their parents,
But go to the brothers and tell them: I am ascending to my father and your
the deep sense of gratitude, and
Father, my God and your God.”
the solid common sense of the untutored peasant.
The ‘Noli me Tangere’ or ‘Touch me not’ is a symbol of the need for
It calls on the Filipino to recover his self-confidence, to appreciate his own
distance.
worth, to return to the heritage of his ancestors, and to assert himself as the
The ‘Noli me Tangere’ is a similar theme of longing and unfulfilment.
equal of the Spaniard.
There is no more tragic love and of course no greater love than of two
It insists on the need of education, of dedication to the country, and of
beings unable to reach each other, since such a love eternally remains
absorbing aspects of foreign cultures that would enhance the native
unblemished.
traditions."
Rizal's book persistently unmasks contemporary Spaniards in the
Philippines of every kind.
Characters
He exposes corruption and brutality of the civil guards which drive good
Major characters
men to crime and banditry.
He focuses on an administration crawling with self-seekers, out to make
Ibarra (Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin)
their fortune at the expense of the Filipinos, so that the few officials who are
Son of a Filipino businessman, Don Rafael Ibarra, he studied in Europe for
honest and sincere are unable to overcome the treacherous workings of the
seven years. Ibarra is also María Clara's fiancé. Upon his return, Ibarra
system, and their efforts to help the country often end up in frustration or in
requested the local government of San Diego to construct a public school to
self-ruin.
promote education in the town.
The Noli is Rizal's exposé of corrupt friars who have made the Catholic
religion an instrument for enriching and perpetuating themselves in power by
seeking to mire ignorant Filipinos in fanaticism and superstition.
*** Read the book for the background of Noli, it includes how he worked on the
paper,etc. In here, it’s merely about the Noli Me Tangere Novel.
 María Clara (María Clara de los Santos y Alba)
Sisa, Crispín, and Basilio
She was raised by Capitán Tiago, San Diego's cabeza de barangay and is the
Sisa, Crispín, and Basilio represent a Filipino family persecuted by the
most beautiful and widely celebrated girl in San Diego.
Spanish authorities.
In the later parts of the novel, María Clara's identity was revealed as an
Narcisa or Sisa is the deranged mother of Basilio and Crispín. Described
illegitimate daughter of Father Dámaso, former parish curate of the town, and
as beautiful and young, although she loves her children very much, she can
Doña Pía Alba, wife of Capitán Tiago. In the end she entered local covenant
not protect them from the beatings of her husband, Pedro.
for nuns Beaterio de Santa Clara.
Crispín is Sisa's 7-year-old son. An altar boy, he was unjustly accused of

stealing money from the church.

Capitán Tiago (Don Santiago de los Santos)
is a Filipino businessman and the cabeza de barangay or head of barangay of
After failing to force Crispín to return the money he allegedly stole, Father
the town of San Diego. He is also the known father of María Clara. He is also
Salví and the head sacristan killed him.
said to be a good Catholic, friend of the Spanish government and was
Basilio is Sisa's 10-year-old son. An acolyte tasked to ring the church bells
considered as a Spanish by colonialists. Capitán Tiago never attended school,
for the Angelus, he faced the dread of losing his younger brother and falling
so he became a domestic helper of a Dominican friar who taught him
of his mother into insanity.
informal education. He married Pía Alba from Santa Cruz.

Other characters
Padre Dámaso (Dámaso Verdolagas)
is a Franciscan friar and the former parish curate of San Diego. He is best
Padre Hernando de la Sibyla – a Dominican friar. He is described as
known as a notorious character who speaks with harsh words and has been a
short and has fair skin. He is instructed by an old priest in his order to watch
cruel priest during his stay in the town.
Crisóstomo Ibarra.
He is the real father of María Clara and an enemy of Crisóstomo's father,
Padre Bernardo Salví – the Franciscan curate of San Diego, secretly
Rafael Ibarra. Later, he and María Clara had bitter arguments whether she
harboring lust for María Clara. He is described to be very thin and sickly. It
would marry Alfonso Linares or go to a convent. At the end of the novel, he
is also hinted that his last name, "Salvi" is the shorter form of "Salvi"
is again re-assigned to a distant town and is found dead one day.
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
Elías
money back, though there was not enough evidence that it was Crispin who
is Ibarra's mysterious friend and ally. Elías made his first appearance as a
has stolen his 2 onzas.
pilot during a picnic of Ibarra and María Clara and her friends.
El Alférez or Alperes – chief of the Guardia Civil. Mortal enemy of the
He wants to revolutionize the country and to be freed from Spanish
priests for power in San Diego and husband of Doña Consolacion.
oppression.
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
 Filosofo Tacio(Pilosopo Tasyo)
laundrywoman who passes herself as a Peninsular; best remembered for her
Seeking for reforms from the government, he expresses his ideals in paper
abusive treatment of Sisa.
written in a cryptographic alphabet similar from hieroglyphs and Coptic
Doña Victorina (Doña Victorina de los Reyes de Espadaña) -is an
figures hoping "that the future generations may be able to decipher it" and
ambitious Filipina who classifies herself as a Spanish and mimics Spanish
realized the abuse and oppression done by the conquerors. His full name is
ladies by putting on heavy make-up.
only known as Don Anastacio.
Don Tiburcio de Espadaña – Spanish Quack Doctor who is limp and
The educated inhabitants of San Diego labeled him as Filosofo Tacio (Tacio
submissive to his wife, Doña Victorina.
the Sage) while others called him as Tacio el Loco (Insane Tacio) due to his
Teniente Guevara - a close friend of Don Rafael Ibarra. He reveals to
exceptional talent for reasoning.
Crisóstomo how Don Rafael Ibarra's death came about.

*** Read the book for the background of Noli, it includes how he worked on the
paper,etc. In here, it’s merely about the Noli Me Tangere Novel.
 Alfonso Linares – A distant nephew of Tiburcio de Espanada, the would-
cornerstone for Ibarra's school. Instead of killing Ibarra, he was killed by his
be fiancé of María Clara. Although he presented himself as a practitioner of
cornerstone.
law, it was later revealed that he, just like Don Tiburcio, is a fraud. He later
Lucas - the brother of the taong madilaw. He planned a revolution against
died due to given medications of Don Tiburcio.
the government with Ibarra as the leader after he was turned down by Ibarra.
Tía Isabel - Capitán Tiago's cousin, who raised Maria Clara.
He was said to have a scar on his left cheek. He would later be killed by the
Governor General (Gobernador Heneral) – Unnamed person in the novel,
Sakristan Mayor.
he is the most powerful official in the Philippines. He has great disdains
Bruno and Tarsilo – a pair of brothers whose father was killed by the
against the friars and corrupt officials, and sympathizes Ibarra.
Spaniards.
Don Filipo Lino – vice mayor of the town of San Diego, leader of the
Ñor Juan (Ñol Juan) - appointed as foreman of the school to be built by
liberals.
Ibarra
Padre Manuel Martín - he is the linguistic curate of a nearby town, who
Capitana Tika - Sinang's mother and wife of Capitan Basilio.
says the sermon during San Diego's fiesta.
Albino - a former seminarian who joined the picnic with Ibarra and María
Don Rafael Ibarra - father of Crisóstomo Ibarra. Though he is the richest
Clara. Was later captured during the revolution.
man in San Diego, he is also the most virtuous and generous.
Capitana María Elena - a nationalist woman who defends Ibarra of the
Dona Pía Alba - wife of Capitan Tiago and mother of María Clara. She
memory of his father.
died giving birth to her. In reality, she was raped by Dámaso so she could
Capitán Tinong and Capitán Valentín - other known people from the
bear a child.
town of San Diego.

Sacristán Mayor - The one who governs the altar boys and killed Crispín
Non-recurring characters
for his accusation.
These characters were mentioned in the novel, appeared once, mentioned
many times or have no major contribution to the storyline.
Summary
Don Pedro Eibarramendia - the great-grandfather of Crisóstomo Ibarra
The plot revolves around Crisostomo Ibarra, mixed-race heir of a wealthy
who came from the Basque area of Spain. He started the misfortunes of Elias'
clan, returning home after seven years in Europe and filled with ideas on how
family. His descendants abbreviated their surname to Ibarra. He died of
to better the lot of his countrymen. Striving for reforms, he is confronted by
unknown reasons, but was seen as a decaying corpse on a Balite Tree.
an abusive ecclesiastical hierarchy and a Spanish civil administration by
Don Saturnino Ibarra - the son of Don Pedro, father of Don Rafael and
turns indifferent and cruel.
grandfather of Crisóstomo Ibarra. He was the one who developed the town of
The death of Ibarra’s father, Don Rafael, prior to his homecoming, and the
San Diego. He was described as a cruel man but was very clever.
refusal of a Catholic burial by Padre Damaso, the parish priest, provokes
Salomé - Elías' sweetheart. She lives in a little house by the lake, and
Ibarra into hitting the priest, for which Ibarra is excommunicated. The decree
though Elías would like to marry her, he tells her that it would do her or their
is rescinded, however, when the governor general intervenes.
children no good to be related to a fugitive like himself.
The friar and his successor, Padre Salvi, embody the rotten state of the
Sinang - Maria Clara's friend. Because Crisóstomo Ibarra offered half of
clergy. Their tangled feelings—one paternal, the other carnal—for Maria
the school he was building to Sinang, he gained Capitan Basilio's support.
Clara, Ibarra’s sweetheart and rich Capitan Tiago’s beautiful daughter, steel
Iday, Andeng and Victoria - Maria Clara's other friends.
their determination to spoil Ibarra’s plans for a school.
Capitán Basilio - Sinang's father, leader of the conservatives.
The town philosopher Tasio wryly notes similar past attempts have failed,
Pedro – the abusive husband of Sisa who loves cockfighting.
and his sage commentary makes clear that all colonial masters fear that an
Tandáng Pablo – The leader of the tulisanes (bandits), whose family was
enlightened people will throw off the yoke of oppression.
destroyed because of the Spaniards.
Using satire brilliantly, Rizal creates other memorable characters whose
El hombre amarillo (apparently means "yellowish person", named as
lives manifest the poisonous effects of religious and colonial oppression.
Taong Madilaw) - One of Crisostomo Ibarra's would-be assassins. He is not
Capitan Tiago; the social climber Doña Victorina de Espadaña and her
named in the novel, and only described as such. In the novel, he carved the
toothless Spanish husband;
*** Read the book for the background of Noli, it includes how he worked on the
paper,etc. In here, it’s merely about the Noli Me Tangere Novel.
 the Guardia Civil head and his harridan of a wife; the sorority of devout
women;
Other confilicts
the disaffected peasants forced to become outlaws: in sum, a microcosm of
Other conflicts, mostly internal reside in other characters such as Sisa,
Philippine society.
Doña Victorina, Doña Consolacion, and Elias. However, the more internal
In the afflictions that plague them, Rizal paints a harrowing picture of his
conflict within Ibarra is the more interesting one, as it expresses the dilemma
beloved but suffering country in a work that speaks eloquently not just to
of present-day Filipinos: the conflict between traditional values and one’s
Filipinos but to all who have endured or witnessed oppression.
personal values that had been developed through time.

Good to know: Point of conflict

Denouement
Ibarra debates with the mysterious Elias, with whose life his is intertwined.
the final part of a play, film, etc. in which matters are explained or resolved.
The privileged Ibarra favors peaceful means, while Elias, who has suffered
injustice at the hands of the authorities, believes violence is the only option.
Interestingly, Maria Clara’s escapism was revealed in the Epilogue when
Ibarra’s enemies, particularly Salvi, implicate him in a fake insurrection,
two patrolmen who sought shelter from a storm under the eaves near the
though the evidence against him is weak. Then Maria Clara betrays him to
nunnery.
protect a dark family secret, public exposure of which would be ruinous.
They saw “a white figure standing almost on the ridge of the roof with
Ibarra escapes from prison with Elias’s help and confronts her.
arms and face raised toward the sky as if praying to it”. She escaped a
She explains why, Ibarra forgives her, and he and Elias flee to the lake. But
problem through religion that was itself a part of that problem.
chased by the Guardia Civil, one dies while the other survives.
Ibarra’s enemies, particularly Salvi, implicate him in a fake insurrection,
Convinced Ibarra’s dead, Maria Clara enters the nunnery, refusing a
though the evidence against him is weak. Then Maria Clara betrays him to
marriage arranged by Padre Damaso. Her unhappy fate and that of the more
protect a dark family secret, public exposure of which would be ruinous.
memorable Sisa, driven mad by the fate of her sons, symbolize the country’s
Ibarra escapes from prison with Elias’s help and confronts her.
condition, at once beautiful and miserable.
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.
Crisostomo Ibarra
Convinced Ibarra’s dead, Maria Clara enters the nunnery, refusing a
As the protagonist of the novel, Crisostomo Ibarra is the character in whose
marriage arranged by Padre Damaso.
character the main conflict resides. It is easy enough to identify the external
Her unhappy fate and that of the more memorable Sisa, driven mad by the
conflicts:
fate of her sons, symbolize the country’s condition, at once beautiful and

miserable.
Ibarra versus the society of his time -- its values and its prejudices;
______________________________________________________________
Ibarra versus Father Damaso and, indirectly, with the other friars;
______________________________________________________________
Ibarra versus Kapitan Tiago whose very strong sense of self-preservation
Scholars He Met When He Went To Europe
puts him in direct conflict with the love between Maria Clara and Ibarra.

Ferdinand Blumentritt, the Austrian scholar

Maria clara
Dr. Carlos Czepelak., Polish scholar, renowned scientist of Europe
Maria Clara did not really resolve the conflicts within her; she chose to
Professor Robert Klutschak, an eminent naturalist.
escape, by entering the convent as a nun.
 Señor Eusebio Corominas – editor of La Publicidad,
Rightly or wrongly, Maria Clara has been held as the ideal Filipina which,
 Don Miguel Morayta – owner of La Publicidad and a statesman
perhaps, is the reason why many Filipinas prefer to be or pretend to prefer
 Dr. Louis de Weckert, a leading French ophthalmologist.
being a Maria Clara type with all its dubious virtues.
 Dr. Otto Becker, a distinguished German ophthalmologist.
Many had used the convent as an escape from a world that could not give
 Protestant pastor, Dr. Karl Ulmer.
them happiness or the fulfilment they crave.
 Prof. Friedrich Ratzel, a famous historian
*** Read the book for the background of Noli, it includes how he worked on the
paper,etc. In here, it’s merely about the Noli Me Tangere Novel.
  Dr. Hans Meyer, a German anthropologist.
 Dr. Adolph B. Meyer, the director of the Anthropological and
Ethnological Museum.
 Dr. Feodor Jagor, the German scientist-traveller and author
of Travels in the Philippines
 Dr. Rudolf Virchow, the famous German anthropologist
 Dr. W. Joest, a German geographer
 Dr. Karl Ernest Schweigger, a famous German ophthalmologist

*** Read the book for the background of Noli, it includes how he worked on the
paper,etc. In here, it’s merely about the Noli Me Tangere Novel.