About Noli Me

Tangere
THE TITLE
“Noli Me Tangere” (Touch Me Not) is
taken from the Gospel of St. John
chapter 20, vol. 17, which words jesus
spoke in greeting in Mary
Magdalene after the resurrection
 Rizal wrote Noli Me Tangere with 2 Objectives
To expose the social malady affecting his country
To awaken and develop the national consciousness of the people

a Rizal considered the Noli

biographer Me Tangere as the
who “ greatest literary
called the novels work ever written
the by a Filipino... A
“New Gospel” and work written with
the the heart’s blood of
“new bible” of the patriot.”
Wenceslao Retana Filipinos. Ferdinand Blumentritt
 • The novels exposed the symptoms of the
cancer that were eroding Philippine society
• The abuses of the friars and civil guards; the corruption
in the goverment ;the defective educational system; the
hypocrisy and apathy of some Filipino’s and the
decadence of the social order
• Rizal portrayed the substance and characters of
the contemporary situation in the Philippines
Juan Crisostomo Ibarra y
Magsalin
Don Crisóstomo Magsalin Ibarra,
commonly referred to in the novel
as Ibarra or Crisóstomo, is the
novel's protagonist. The mestizo
(mixed-race) son of Filipino
businessman Don Rafael Ibarra, he
studied in Europe for seven years.
Ibarra is also María Clara's fiancé.
Symbolism
Jose Rizal represented his persona as
Crisostomo Ibarra who was a rich
character yet he was rebellious who fought
for the freedom of the Spaniards. He also
symbolizes the idealism of the privileged
youth. He is depicted as one of the
Filipinos who managed to finish their
studies abroad.
 Maria Clara
María Clara, whose full name is María Clara
de los Santos y Alba, is a fictional mestiza
heroine in Noli Me Tángere, a novel by José
Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. Her
name and character have since become a
byword in Filipino culture for the traditional,
feminine ideal.
 Symbolism
Maria Clara is the epitome of purity and
innocence. The representation of Maria Clara as
demure and self-effacing posed an ideal "image"
of what a Filipina should be.
She symbolizes the unhappy and
exploited state of the Philippines under
Spanish rule
 Padre Damaso
Dámaso Verdolagas, or Padre
Dámaso, is a Franciscan friar and
the former Parish curate of San
Diego and the main antagonist of
Jose Rizal's novel Noli me Tangere.
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.
Symbolism
Padre Damaso He represents the wealthy
Filipinos who use their position of power
and wealth to oppress their fellow
citizens in exchange for personal benefit
and financial gain.
represents the reactionary and
conservative forces in the colony
 Capitán Tiago
Capitan Tiago was an
influential businessman in San
Diego and the father of Maria
Clara. Betrothing his daughter
to Crisostomo Ibarra, Capitan
Tiago struggled to obey the
will of the friars.
Symbolism
He symbolizes the rich Filipinos who
oppress their fellow Filipinos in
exchange for the influence and the
riches that they might gain from their
powerful associations.
 Elias
Elias was a strong and loyal man.
His loyalty was to both Crisostomo
and the motherland. He devoted the
last moments of his life to save the
life of the person whom he believed
was the only hope for the Filipinos to
liberate themselves from their poor
condition. Elias was principled.
 Symbolism
Symbolism Elias represents the common
Filipino who is not only aware of the
injustices done to their countrymen but
would also like to deliver them from their
oppressors. He is said to be the
personification of Andres Bonifacio.
 Sisa
Sisa was a woman living in San
Diego and the mother of Basilio and
Crispin. After both of her sons went
missing, Sisa went insane,
wandering around town while
searching for them.
 Symbolism
Sisa represents the Inang
Bayan or Motherland who
became an outcast because of
the ill-treatment of the
Spaniards to the Filipinos
 Basilio
Basilio was a young boy living in San
Diego and the older brother of Crispin.
Following his mother's death and his
brother's disappearance, Basilio fled
the town and was taken in by Capitan
Tiago.
 Crispin
Crispin was a young boy living in
San Diego and one of the sacristans
of its church alongside his brother
Basilio. After being accused of
stealing from the church's coffers,
Crispin was punished by the head
sacristan and Padre Salvi.
 Symbolism
Basilio He represents the dismissive
attitude toward social problems
among the country's educated youth.
Crispin represents the innocents who
have been wrongly accused of the
crime they did not commit. The
injustice they suffered under the hands
of the authorities
 Pedro
In Noli Me Tangere and Maria Clara
at Ibarra, Pedro was described as an
inveterate gambler, abusive husband
to Sisa and an abusive father to his
two sons: Basilio (who was only about
ten years old at the time of Noli) and
Crispin (seven years old).
 Tiburcio de Espadana
(Don Toburcio)
An old, Spanish quack doctor
(has no license and did not study
medicine) who is residing in the
Philippines.
Symbolism
Don Tiburcio is a caricature of
ignorant Spaniards who
wreakhavoc in the provinces
during the colonial era.
 Donya Victorina

Doña Victorina was a

socialite and friend of
Capitan Tiago. She along
with her husband Don
Tiburcio sought to
associate themselves
with the influential
figures of San Diego in
order to gain further
social status.
 Symbolism
Clearly, Doña Victorina's purpose is to show us
that it's easy for anyone to be consumed by
ambition. Victorina, the consummate “social
climber,” embodies that people would do
anything to get attention, or respect. Despite
the time gap between our society and Rizal's,
these people are still present today.
 Donya Consolacion
An older Filipina woman married to the
ensign. Doña Consolación is a brutal,
vulgar partner who berates the ensign,
engaging him in intense physical fights
heard across the town. It is well known
that she makes many of the ensign’s
decisions, and she even fuels his rivalry
with Father Salví, encouraging her
husband to take action against the priest
to assert his dominance.
 Symbolism
Rizal depicts Doña Consolación as incredibly crass and very ugly, writing
that her one “sterling trait” is that she seems to have “never looked in the
mirror.” Much like Doña Victorina, with whom she eventually gets into an
intense fight, she believes herself to be much more worthy of respect than
she actually is, constantly deceiving herself in regards to her station in life.
She even pretends to not remember her native language, Tagalog,
instead speaking very bad Spanish.
 Pilosopo Tasio
Pilosopo Tasio, short for Anastacio,
was an old scholar living in San Diego.
Thought of as a lunatic due to his
unorthodox ideas, he became an
adviser for several individuals in
town.
 Symbolism

Pilosopo Tasyo, He symbolizes

the learned Filipinos who had
once embraced the culture of
the Spanish regime.
 Don Rafael Ibarra

Crisóstomo Ibarra's father. Though he was

the richest man in San Diego, he was also the
most virtuous and generous. Thus he stepped
on the toes of the elite who then conspired to
destroy him.
 Symbolism
He is a rich native-born Filipino who rubbed
elbows with the powers thatbe during that time.
He symbolizes the rich Filipinos who oppress
their fellow countrymen in exchange for the
influence and the riches that they might gain
from their powerful associations.
The School Master/ Symbolism
A teacher at San Diego who’s view
in the novel represented the weak
and useless education in the
philippines. He attributes the
problemfrom facilities and
methods of learning that the friars
implemented in the country
Tandang Pablo
The Leader of
the rebels,
whose family
was destroyed
because of the
spaniards
 Padre Salvi
Padre Salvi was the town curate
of San Diego and the successor of
Padre Damaso. Possessing a
rivalry with the town's alferez, he
later orchestrated the downfall of
Crisostomo Ibarra, manipulating
the townspeople in the process.
 Symbolism

Padre Salvi represents the clergy during the time who

disguise the yearnings of the flesh under the
authority of the Church to get what they want. Padre
Salvi in real life As most characters inNoli Me
Tangere, Salvi was also based on a true person in the
name of 'Padre Antonio Piernavieja.
 Padre Sibyla

Padre Sibyla (Father Sibyla) is the

parish priest of Binondo. He was a
former teacher of Crisostomo
Ibarra
He is smart and liberal, seeing the
mistakes that the Spaniards make
against the Filipino natives but he
prefers to be silent for his own
good.
 Symbolism
Padre Sibyla symbolizes the liberal
friar but would rather stay in the
background rather than incur the
wrath of other priests in power.
 Captain General
He is the unnamed representative of Spain and
holds the position of Captain General in the
Philippine government, making him the
highest official in the country. He has a strong
disdain for corrupt public officials and secular
priests, and he is Crisostomo Ibarra’s friend.
 The Ensign (The Alferez)
He is the Chief of the Guardia Civil in the town of San Diego,
but no one knows his name. He has a drinking problem and is
married to Doña Consolacion, with whom he has regular
arguments.
The Ensign is a man of Spanish heritage who is a mortal
enemy of the priests for the power in San Diego to control the
city.

Likewise, the Alferez, during the Spanish occupation, was the

head police of a certain town or city. Additionally, the Alferez
also had powers similar to a second lieutenant and a higher
power than a Seargent.
 AUNT ISABEL
She is a cousin of Captain Tiago. After Maria Clara’s mother passed away from an
untimely death, she took care of Maria Clara as if she were her own child.

LINARES
Linares is a distant nephew of Don Tiburcio de Espadaña. He is a young respectable
Spaniard. Along the same lines as his uncle, he has falsified his credentials with the aim of
advancing his social standing. Linares is the would-be fiance of Maria Clara.

DONYA PIA ALBA

Doña Pia Alba is the religious mother of Maria Clara and the wife of Captain Tiago. She
passed away shortly after giving birth to Maria Clara.
Maria Clara’s mother is a symbol of the women who, after suffering abuse at the hands of
members of the priesthood, kept their experiences to themselves out of shame.

LT. GUEVARA
He is a morally upright man of Spanish origin who has a great deal of respect for both
Crisostomo Ibarra and Don Rafael, who passed away some time ago. In addition to that,
Guevara holds the position of lieutenant in the Civil Guard.
 THE PLOT OF NOLI ME TANGERE
Crisóstomo Ibarra, the mestizo son of the recently
deceased Don Rafael Ibarra, is returning to San
Diego town in Laguna after seven years of study in
Europe. Kapitán Tiago, a family friend, invites him
to a reunion party in Manila. At the party
Crisóstomo meets Padre Dámaso who was San
Diego's parish priest when Crisóstomo left for
Europe. Dámaso treats Crisóstomo with hostility to
the surprise of the young man who regarded the
priest as his father's friend. Later as Crisóstomo was
walking back to his hotel, Lieutenant Guevara,
another friend of his father, informs him that Don
Rafael may have been killed for political reasons
and Dámaso may have been involved. Guevara
warns him to be careful.
 The following day Crisóstomo returns to
Tiago's home to meet with his childhood
sweetheart, Tiago's daughter María Clara. As
the two flirt and reminisce, María reads back
to him a part of his farewell letter on his
discussion with his father about the state of
the country. Ibarra excuses himself eventually
as it was time to go to San Diego.
 At San Diego Crisóstomo goes to the cemetery
and finds his father's grave desecrated. He seeks
out the gravedigger who then tells him that the
parish priest had ordered Don Rafael's remains
transferred to the Chinese cemetery, but that he
threw the corpse into the lake instead out of fear
and pity. At that moment Padre Bernardo Salví,
the new parish priest, walks by. An enraged
Crisóstomo pushes him to the ground,
demanding an explanation. A fearful Salví
states that he was only newly assigned to the
town but reveals that Padre Dámaso ordered
the transfer.
 Crisóstomo decides to forgive and commits to
improvements in his town. He plans to build a
private school, believing that his paisanos
would benefit from a more modern education
than what is offered in the government
schools, which were under the influence of the
friars. Enjoying widespread support from the
locals and Spanish authorities, Crisóstomo's
project advances quickly. He receives counsel
from Don Anastacio, a local philosopher, and
recruits a progressive schoolmaster.
Construction was set to begin shortly with the
cornerstone to be laid in a few weeks during
San Diego's town fiesta
 One day, Crisóstomo, María and
their friends go on a picnic along
the shores of the Laguna de Baý.
They discover that a crocodile had
been lurking in the Ibarras' fish
pens. The boatman jumps into the
water with a knife drawn.
Crisóstomo follows him and the two
subdue the animal together. Elías,
the boatman, proclaims himself
indebted to Crisóstomo.
 The day of the fiesta, Elías warns Crisóstomo of
a plot to kill him at the cornerstone ceremony.
Sure enough, Crisóstomo evades injury and the
would-be assassin is killed. During the luncheon,
an uninvited Padre Dámaso further berates
Crisóstomo. The other guests hiss for discretion,
but Dámaso carries on and insults the memory
of Don Rafael. Crisóstomo then loses control,
strikes the friar unconscious and holds a knife to
his neck. Crisóstomo tells the guests about
Dámaso's schemes that resulted in his father's
death, but releases Dámaso when María Clara
pleads for mercy. Crisóstomo is excommunicated
from the Church, but has it lifted in Manila
through the intercession of the sympathetic
captain-general. Returning to San Diego, he
finds María ill and refusing to see him.
 Meanwhile, Elías senses Crisóstomo's influence
with the government and takes him for a sail so
they can talk in private. Elías reveals that a
revolutionary group had been trying to recruit
him but he stalled in order to get Crisóstomo's
views first. The conversation shifts to Elías'
family history. It turns out that Elías'
grandfather in his youth worked as a
bookkeeper in a Manila office, but one night a
fire consumes the office and the Spanish
proprietor accuses him of arson. He was
prosecuted and jailed; upon release he was
shunned by the community as a dangerous
lawbreaker. His wife turned to prostitution to
support the family. Their lives were ruined.
 Crisóstomo says that he cannot help and his school
project is his focus. Rebuffed, Elías advises Crisóstomo
to avoid him in the future, for his own safety.
However, Elías returns a few days later to tell him of a
rogue uprising planned for that same night. The
instigators had used Crisóstomo's name in vain to
recruit malcontents. The authorities know of the
uprising and are prepared to spring a trap on the
rebels. Realizing the scheme's repercussions,
Crisóstomo abandons his school project and enlists
Elías in sorting out and destroying documents that
may implicate him. Elías obliges, but comes across a
name familiar to him: Don Pedro Eibarramendia.
Crisóstomo says Pedro was his great-grandfather and
that they had to shorten his long family name. Elías
responds that Eibarramendia was the same Spaniard
who accused his grandfather of arson, and thus
condemned Elías and his family to misfortune. Elias
leaves the house in consternation.
he uprising takes place and many of the rebels are
captured or killed. They point to Crisóstomo as
instructed and he is arrested. The following
morning, the instigators are found dead—Padre
Salví, the mastermind of the uprising, ordered his
senior sexton to kill them in order to silence them.
Elías, meanwhile, sneaks back into the Ibarra
mansion and sorts through documents and
valuables, then burns down the house. Crisóstomo
and his co-accused are loaded into horse carts and
taken to prison with their townmates shouting in
anger and casting stones as they passed.
 Kapitán Tiago later on hosts a dinner at his
riverside house in Manila to celebrate María Clara's
engagement with Alfonso Linares, a Peninsular
who was presented as her new suitor following
Crisóstomo's excommunication. Present at the
party were Padre Salví, Padre Sibyla, Lieutenant
Guevarra, and other acquaintances. They spoke of
the events in San Diego and Crisóstomo's fate.
Salví, who lusted after María Clara all along and
staged the uprising in order to frame Crisóstomo,
says he requested to be moved to the Convent of
the Poor Clares in Manila under the pretense of the
San Diego uprising being too much for him.
 Guevara outlines how the court came to condemn
Crisóstomo. In a signed letter he wrote before leaving
for Europe, Crisóstomo spoke of his father, an alleged
rebel who died in prison. Somehow this letter fell into
the hands of an enemy, and Crisóstomo's handwriting
was copied to create recruitment letters for the uprising.
The signature on the letters was similar to Crisóstomo's
seven years before, but not at present day. Crisóstomo
only had to deny ownership of the signature on the
original letter and the case built on the bogus letters
would be dismissed. But upon seeing the letter, which
was of course his farewell letter to María Clara,
Crisóstomo lost the will to fight the charges, and he is
sentenced to be deported. Guevara then approaches
María who had been listening. Privately but
sorrowfully, he congratulates her for her common sense
in yielding the letter. Now, she can live a life of peace.
María is devastated.
 Later that evening Crisóstomo, having
escaped prison with the help of Elías, confronts
María in secret. María admits giving up his
letter because Salví found Dámaso's old letters
in the San Diego parsonage, letters from
María's mother who was then pregnant with
her and begging Dámaso for an abortion. It
turns out that Dámaso was María's biological
father. Salví promised not to divulge Dámaso's
letters in exchange for Crisóstomo's farewell
letter. Crisóstomo forgives her, María swears
her undying love, and they part with a kiss
Crisóstomo and Elías slip unnoticed through the Estero de
Binondo and into the Pasig River. Elías tells Crisóstomo
that his family treasure is buried at the Ibarra forest in
San Diego. Wishing to make restitution, Crisóstomo tells
Elías to flee with him to a foreign country where they will
live as brothers. Elías declines, stating that his fate lies
with the country he wishes to reform. Crisóstomo then tells
him of his own desire for revolution to lengths that even
Elías was unwilling to go. Just then, sentries catch up with
their boat at the mouth of the Pasig River and pursue
them across Laguna de Bay. Elías orders Crisóstomo to lie
down and to meet him at his family's mausoleum in the
forest. Elías then jumps into the water to distract the
pursuers and is shot several times.
 The following day, María reads in the newspapers that
Crisóstomo had been killed by sentries in pursuit. She
remorsefully demands of Dámaso that her wedding
with Linares be cancelled and that she be entered into
the cloister, or the grave. Seeing her resolution, Dámaso
admits he ruined Crisóstomo because he was a mere
mestizo and Dámaso wanted María to be happy and
secure, and that was possible only if she married a
peninsular Spaniard. Knowing why Salví had earlier
requested to be assigned to the Convent of the Poor
Clares Dámaso pleads with María to reconsider, but to
no avail. Weeping, Dámaso consents, knowing the
horrible fate that awaits his daughter within the
convent but finding it more tolerable than her suicide.
A few nights later in the Ibarra forest, a
boy pursues his mother through the
darkness. The woman went insane with
the constant beating of her husband,
the death of her younger son in the
hands of Padre Salví, and the loss of her
elder son to the Guardia Civil. Basilio,
the boy, catches up with Sisa, his
mother, inside the Ibarra mausoleum,
but the strain had already been too
great for Sisa.
 She dies in Basilio's embrace. As
Basilio grieves for his mother Elías
stumbles into the mausoleum,
himself dying from his wounds. He
instructs Basilio to burn their
bodies and if no one comes, to dig
inside the mausoleum. He will find
treasure, which he is to use for his
own education.
 As Basilio leaves to fetch the
wood, Elías sinks to the ground
and whispers that he will die
without seeing the dawn of
freedom for his people, and
that those who see it must
welcome it and not forget those
who died in the darkness.
 Afterwards, it is revealed that
Dámaso is transferred to a
remote town; distraught, he is
found dead a day later. Tiago
fell into depression, became
addicted to opium and faded
to obscurity. Salví, while
waiting for his consecration as
a bishop, serves as chaplain of
the Convent of the Poor Clares.
 Meanwhile, during a
stormy evening in
September, two
patrolmen reported
seeing a specter on the
roof of the convent
weeping in despair. The
next day, a
government
representative visited
the convent to try to
investigate the
previous night's events.
One of the nuns had a wet
and torn gown and with
tears told the
representative of "tales of
horror" and begged for
"protection against the
outrages of hypocrisy"
(strongly suggesting that
Padre Salví regularly
rapes her when he is in
the convent).
The abbess, however, said that
she was mad. A general also
attempted to investigate the
nun's case, but by then the
abbess prohibited visits to the
convent. Nothing more was
said about this nun, or for that
matter, María Clara.
 Mark Arvin Requillas
Leader
Members
Jessa Mae Flores
Karen Ruiz
Kyla Boncacas Flores
Adrian Laforteza
Christian Luis De Guzman