NOLI ME TANGERE
Dr. Maximino Viola
Idea of writing a novel
 His reading of Harriet Beecher
Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which
portrays the brutalities of American
slave-owners and the pathetic
conditions of the unfortunate Negro
Slaves, inspired by Dr. Rizal to
prepare a novel that would depict the
miseries of his people under the lash
of Spanish tyrants.
Noli in the making
 On January 2, 1884, Rizal proposed
the writing of a novel about the
Philippines by a group of Filipinos.
It was approved by the Paternos
(Pedro, Maximino, and Antonion),
Graciano Lopez Jaena, Evaristo
Aguirre, Eduardo de Lete, Julio
Llorente, Melecio Figueroa, and
Valentin Ventura.
 Toward the end of 1884, Rizal began
writing the novel in Madrid and
finished about one-half of it.
 He continued writing the novel after
completing his studies in the Central
Universities of Madrid, finishing
one-half of the second-half. He
finished the last fourth novel in
Germany. He wrote the last few
chapter of the novel in Wilhelmsfeld
in April-June 1886.
 Rizal made the final revisions on the
manuscript of the Noli.
 Despite on the completion of the
novel, he was sick and penniless, he
saw no hope of having it published.
 Dr. Maximo Viola was a scion of a
rich family of San Miguel, Bulacan.
 He gladly agreed to finance the
printing cost of the Noli. He also
loaned Rizal for some cash money
for living expenses.
Final stretch of the Noli
 On February 21, 1887, the Noli was
finally finished and ready for
printing.
 Rizal and Viola went to different
printing shops in Berlin to survey the
cost of printing.
 The printing cost is only Php 300 for
2000 copies.
Printing of the Noli
 On March 21, 1887, the Noli Me
Tangere came off the press.
 Rizal immediately sent the first
copies of the printed novel to his
intimate friends, including
Blumentritt, Dr. Antonio Ma.
Regidor, G. Lopez Jaena, Mariano
Ponce, and Felix Hidalgo.
 On March 29, 1887, Rizal, in token
of his appreciation, gave Viola the
galley proofs of the Noli carefully
rolled around the pen that he used in
writing it and a complimentary copy,
with a following inscription: “To my
dear friend, Maximo Viola, the first
to read and appreciate my work –
Jose Rizal.”
Origin of the Noli
 The title Noli Me Tangere is a latin
phrase which means “Touch me
not.” It is not originally conceived by
 Rizal, for he admitted taking it from
the bible.
 Rizal was able to expose the real-life
scenario under the Spanish colonial
rule – the abuses and inequalities of
many Spanish Catholic friars and
government officials during his time.
 With 63 chapters and an epilogue,
Rizal was 26 years old when the Noli
was published. He was studying
medicine that time at the Universidad
Central de Madrid. The Noli was
dedicated to the country whose
miseries and sorrows
 Rizal dedicated his Noli Me Tangere
to the Philippines – “To my
fatherland.”
CHARACTERS
CRISOSTOMO IBARRA
 A wealthy young mestizo who has
just returned to the Philippines after
seven years of studying in Europe,
Ibarra is sophisticated, highly
esteemed, and very
 Idealistic.
MARIA CLARA
 A woman of high social standing,
she is the adoptive daughter of
Capitan Tiago and goddaughter to
the vile Fr. Damaso.
FR. DAMASO
 An old, power-hungry, and
shamelessly corrupt Spanish priest
who has lived among the native
Filipinos for nearly two decades; in
spite of having spent all that time
among them the years have done
nothing to endear him or develop any
sympathy for his “flock.”
ELIAS
 A mysterious character, Elias is a
man on the run from the law---a
wandering
insurgent---resentful of both the
Spanish colonial government and the
Catholic
Church, he crosses paths with the
more temperate Crisostomo Ibarra
when he bravely saves his life from a
marauding crocodile.
DON RAFAEL IBARRA
 Crisostomo Ibarra’s father is
posthumously mentioned in the
novel. A great supporter
of liberal education for all and a
vocal critic of the corrupt practices
of the Spanish friars, he earns the ire
of the vitriolic Fray Damaso who
accuses him of sedition and heresy.
CRISPIN
 A young lad studying to be a church
caretaker, he together with his
brother Basilio, ceaselessly work to
send support money for their
beleaguered mother, Sisa.
BASILIO
 Eldest of Sisa’ brood, he, like his
younger brother are sextons in
training. Basilio makes a desperate
run for their home the night Crispín
is dragged away.
PADRE SALVI
 A young lad studying to be a church
caretaker, he together with his
brother Basilio, ceaselessly work to
send support money for their
beleaguered mother, Sisa.

CAPITAN TIAGO
 Capitan Tiago is a rarity in that he is
a wealthy native-born Filipino
socialite;
he keeps close ties with high-ranking
members of the Catholic Church,
despite
actually having no love for them. His
primary concern is to marry off his
daughter,
the lovely Maria Clara, to an affluent
man from an influential family.
DOÑA CONSOLACION
 The pugnacious wife of The Ensign,
Doña Consolación is an older,
cantankerous Filipina woman who
constantly lectures her husband.
Their fights are
the stuff of legend and it is an open
secret that it is she, not her husband
who
makes he decisions for the
organization.
DON TIBURCIO
 A fraud and a hustler, the Spaniard
who calls himself Doctor Tiburcio de
Espadaña was actually a customs
officer who was dismissed from his
post shortly
after arriving in the Philippines.
DOÑA VICTORINA
 A brazen and determined Filipina
social climber Doña Victorina is the
spouse of the counterfeit doctor,
Tiburcio de Espadaña. She well past
her prime and relies
on garish make-up to carry on a
façade of youth.
LT. GUEVARA
 A morally upright man of Spanish
descent who holds both Crisostomo
Ibarra
and the late Don Rafael in high
esteem, he is also the lieutenant of
the Civil Guard.
He is one of the few who openly
supported the Ibarra’s and was vocal
about his
dislike of Fray Damaso’s control.
LINARES
 Dr. de Espadaña’s nephew, a
respectable young Spanish man,
quite gifted and possesses a law
degree; a near polar opposite of his
uncle, a matter that
endears him to his uncle’s social-
climbing wife.
THE SCHOOL MASTER
 A teacher that Don Rafael housed
thus allowing him to suitably attend
to the
task of instructing students; he
informs Crisostomo Ibarra of the
sorry state of
education of San Diego since the
passing of his father.
DON FILIPO
 Don Filipo Lino is a
representative of the younger,
less religiously shackled
generation of movers and
shakers in San Diego, he also
serves as the vice mayor of
the town.
SISA
 The long-suffering mother of
sextons in training Crispin
and Basilio, she goes
mad upon the loss of her
sons. Impoverished and
married to a violent drunkard
her
sons were the only ray of
sunshine in her life
FR. SIBYLA
 A priest serving in the
Binondo district in the city of
Manila, Fr. Sibyla serves as
a foil to the otherwise largely
corrupt Fray Dámaso and the
perverse Fray Salví as
he is rational and calm.
THE MISSING CHAPTER
 In the original manuscript of
Noli Me Tangere, there was a
chapter entitled “Elias and
Salome” which follows
Chapter XXIV “In the
woods.” This particular
chapter on Elias and Salome
was deleted by Rizal so that it
was not included in the
printed novel. His reason for
doing so was the cost of
printing would
correspondingly be reduced.

THE GRAVEDIGGER
 A cemetery worker who
exhumes Don Rafael’s
remains upon the insistence
of Fr.
Damaso; moved by pity and
laziness he dumps Don
Rafael’s body in the lake
seeing it as a more fitting
resting place for such a
respected man. Ibarra grills
him,
anxious for information about
his father.

NOLI: BASED ON TRUTH

 The Noli Me Tangere, unlike
many works of fictional
literature, was a true story of
Philippine conditions during
the last decades of Spanish
rule.