Intellectual Legacy of Noli me Tangere and El filibusterismo
Leading Topics
1. There is a need to understand Rizal's legacies in His two Novels
2. Rizals Write a spolarium
3. A brief summary of the main plot of Noli Me Tangere.
4. El Filibusterismo is Published
5. A brief summary of the main plot of El Filibusterismo
6. Various type of characters picture Philippine Society.
7. The promotion of the welfare of the Filipinos is the main aim of the Novels.
8. other intellectual Legacies of Rizal in two Novels.
Noli Me Tangere And El FIlibusterismo
- Two Historical Novels which form a part Of intellectual heritage of the Filipinos.
- They describe the political, economical, educational, religious and cultural life with great realism.
There is a Need to understand Rizal's Legacies in his two Novels.
- The wills, desire and struggle of beliefs and attitudes are presented.
- The readers cannot help but approve or reject the feeling, acting, and thinking of the characters in terms of his own sense of values.
- sharing the thoughts, emotion and behavior of the characters.
which in many cases are the thoughts emotion and behavior of Rizal, he shares the authors varied principles and action. THIS IS THE MAIN REASON WHY WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE INTELLECTUAL LEGACIES IN THE NOVEL
Rizal Writes a Spolarium
A. Characters in Noli Me Tangere
Juan Crisostomo Ibarra
He is the only son of Don Rafael Ibarra, the richest person in San Diego.
He studied in Europe for 7 years, and is the sweetheart of Maria Clara.
Maria Clara
She is the girlfriend of Ibarra.
As far as the society is concerned, she is the daughter of Kapitan Tiyago and Doña Pia Alba, but biologically, her father is Padre Damaso.
Sisa
Mother of Basilio and Crispin.
She has a drunkard for a husband. In the novel Sisa portrays a loving mother, and it could be assumed that Rizal likened her to his own mother.
Sisa is being maltreated by the Spaniards; similarly, our country is being abused by the Spaniards.
Doña Pia Alba
She is the mother of Maria Clara and the wife of Kapitan Tiyago.
She symbolizes our country, which ceaselessly gives in to foreign power.
Capitan Tiago
The father of Maria Clara, as far as the society knows.
Sometimes lovable, and sometimes annoying.
He is very biased and is only obedient to those who are higher in rank than him.
He has money on a pedestal.
Fray Damaso
He is the first parish priest in San Diego; he is very abusive.
He symbolizes the Spanish friars of Rizal's time.
Fray Salvi
He is a Franciscan parish priest of San Diego.
Because he is interested in Maria Clara, he and Padre Damaso devised a plan to break Ibarra and Maria Clara apart. They were successful.
Doña Victorina
Her fanatical adulation of the Spaniards leads her to imitate the very actions and attitudes of the Spanish women.
It may be said that she symbolizes the Filipinos in our society who are ashamed of their own race and nationality.
Doña Consolacion
She is a Filipino woman married to a Spaniard.
Her very actions and way of dressing will lead people to think that she is a whore.
Elias
He believes that justice can be obtained only through revolution --- reforms simply won't do.
He symbolizes the very root of the Filipino culture before the coming of the Spaniards, which remained strong and unbroken by the Spanish culture.
Pilosopong Tasyo
He is a wise man.
He embodies the intelligent people, who never left the country but instead educated themselves in a religious institution.
Characters in Elfilibusterismo
Simoun - Crisostomo Ibarra in disguise, left for dead at the end of Noli Me Tangere, has resurfaced as the wealthy jeweler, Simoun, now sporting a beard, blue-tinted glasses, and a revolver. Fueled by his mistreatment at the hands of the Spaniards and his fury at Maria Clara's fate, he has since shed his pacifist image and become the titular "filibustero", pretending to side with the upper class and encouraging them to enslave the masses, while in reality siding with the masses and urging them to revolt against the oppressive Spanish regime. This time, he does not attempt to fight the authorities with knowledge, but by force. He concocts a plot to set off a bomb disguised as a beautiful lamp at a wedding where important members of civil society and the church hierarchy are in attendance. Unfortunately for him, his plan fails and he commits suicide by consuming poison.
Basilio - After the tragic deaths of his mother and younger brother, Basilio heeds the advice of the dying boatman, Elias, and travels to Manila to study. At first he is frowned upon by his peers and teachers not only because of the color of his skin but also because of his shabby appearance, but redeems himself in their eyes by participating in a fencing contest--and winning. He soon becomes an exceptional medical student, but his plans to graduate and become a full-time doctor are postponed by an encounter with Simoun, who, upon bringing up the deaths of his relatives, convinces him to aid him in his plots. At first, the young man is reluctant, but the death of his sweetheart Juliana drives him to fight wholeheartedly by Simoun's side. He helps Simoun smuggle in a bomb into a wedding reception, but relents later on and warns his best friend Isagani of the impending danger.
Isagani - Basilio's best friend. While Basilio is an aspiring doctor, Isagani, on the other hand, is a budding poet, and he, along with Basilio, plans to establish a school wherein indios such as themselves may learn Spanish. Unlike Basilio, he does not get along well with Simoun, and is much more emotional and reactive than his friend. Isagani experiences a rocky relationship with his rich girlfriend, Paulita Gomez, who eventually dumps him and marries Isagani's fellow student, Juanito Pelaez. Heartbroken, Isagani refuses at first to listen to Basilio when the latter warns him to get away from the would-be epicenter of the explosion, but eventually foils Simoun's plan, racing into the reception in time to prevent the explosion from happening.
Cabesang Tales - Once a farmer owning a prosperous sugarcane plantation, he was forced to give everything to a bunch of unscrupulous Spanish friars. From then on, everything went downhill for Tales: his son, Tano, who became a civil guard was captured by bandits; his daughter Juliana had to work as a maid to get enough ransom money for his freedom; and his father, Tandang Selo, suffered a stroke and became mute. His personality becomes darker after all this suffering and he resorts to killing people. His father, Tandang Selo, dies eventually after his own son Tano, who became a guardia civil, accidentally shots his grandfather in an encounter.
Don Custodio - A famous "journalist" who was asked by the students about his decision for the Academia de Castellano. In reality, he is quite an ordinary fellow who married a rich woman in order to be a member of Manila's elite society. A good debater, he hates when others also believe in what he believes in and praises the indios in public, yet denigrates them in private. He has a mistress, a dancer named Pepay.
Paulita Gomez - The girlfriend of Isagani and the niece of Donya Victorina, the old Filipina, who, in Noli Me Tangere, is the wife of the quack doctor Tiburcio. In the end, she and Juanito Pelaez are wed, and she dumps Isagani, believeing that she will have no future if she marries him.
Padre Florentino - Isagani's godfather, and a secular priest. He is the priest whom Simoun confides to at the end of the story. When Simoun dies, he throws the latter's treasure into the ocean. He was engaged to be married, but chose the priesthood instead. The story hints at the ambivalence of his decision when he chooses an assignment to a remote place, living in solitude near the sea. Speaking through the character of Florentino, Rizal reaffirms his condemnation of a bloody revolution and his commitment to peaceful reforms.
B. Synopsis of "Noli Me Tangere"
The novel Noli Me Tangere contains 63 chapters and epilogue. It begins with a reception given by Capitan Tiago (Santiago de los Santos) at his house in Calle Analogue (now Juan Luna Street) on the last day of October. The reception or dinner is given in honor of Crisostomo Ibarra, a young and rich Filipino who had just returned after seven years of study in Europe. Ibarra was the only son of Don Rafael Ibarra, friend of Capitan Tiago, and a fiancé of beautiful Maria Clara, supposed daughter of Capitan Tiago.
Among the guests during the reception were Padre Damaso, a fat Franciscan friar who had been parish priest for 20 years of San Diego (Calamba), Ibarra’s native town; Padre Sybila, a young Dominican parish priest of Binondo; Señor Guevara, as elderly and kind lieutenant of the Guardia Civil; Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, a bogus Spanish physician, lame, and henpecked husband of Doña Victorina; and several ladies.
Ibarra, upon his arrival, produced a favorable impression among the guests, except Padre Damaso, who has rude to him. In accordance with a German custom, he introduced himself to the ladies.
During the dinner the conversation centered on Ibarra’s studies and travels abroad. Padre Damaso was in bad mood because he got a bony neck and a hard wing of the chicken tinola. He tried to discredit Ibarra’s remarks.
After dinner, Ibarra left Capitan Tiago’s house to return to his hotel. On the way, the kind Lieutenant Guevara told him the sad story of his father’s death in San Diego. Don Rafael, his father, was a rich and brave man. He defended a helpless boy from the brutality of an illiterate Spanish tax collector, pushing the latter and accidentally killing him. Don Rafael was thrown in prison, where he died unhappily. He was buried in consecrated ground, but his enemies, accusing him being a heretic, had his body removed from the cemetery.
On hearing about his father’s sad story, Ibarra thanked the kind Spanish lieutenant and vowed to find out the truth about his father’s death.
The following morning, he visited Maria Clara, his childhood sweetheart. Maria Clara teasingly said that he had forgotten her because the girls in Germany were beautiful. Ibarra replied that he had never forgotten her.
After the romantic reunion with Maria Clara, Ibarra went to San Diego to visit his father’s grave. It was All Saint’s Day. At the cemetery, the grave digger told Ibarra that the corpse of Don Rafael was removed by order of the parish priest to be, buried in the Chinese cemetery; but the corpse was heavy and it was a dark and rainy night so that he (the grave-digger) simply threw the corpse into the lake.
Ibarra was angered by the grave-digger’s story. He left the cemetery. On the way, he met Padre Salvi, Franciscan parish priest of San Diego. In a flash, Ibarra pounced on the priest, demanding redress for desecrating his father’s mortal remains. Padre told him that he had nothing to do with it, for he was not the parish priest at the time of Don Rafael’s death. It was Padre Damaso, his predecessor, who was responsible for it. Convinced for Padre Salvi’s innocence, Ibarra went away.
In his town Ibarra met several interesting people, such as the wise old man, Tasio the philosopher, whose ideas were too advanced for his times so that the people, who could not understand him, called him “Tasio the Lunatic;” the progressive school teacher, who complained to Ibarra that the children were losing interest to their studies because of the lack proper school house and the discouraging attitude of the parish friar towards both the teaching of Spanish and of the use of modern methods of pedagogy; the spineless gobernadorcillo, who catered to the wishes of the Spanish parish friars; Don Filipo Lino, the teniente-mayor and leader of the cuardrilleros (town police); and the former gobernadorcillos who were prominent citizens Don Basilio and Don Valentin.
A most tragic story in the novel is the tale of Sisa, who was formerly a rich girl but became poor because she married a gambler, and a wastrel at that. She became crazy because she lost her two boys, Basilio and Crispin, the joy of her wretched life. These boys were sacristanes (sextons) in the church, working for a small wage to support their poor mother. Crispin the younger of the two brothers was accused by the brutal sacristan mayor (chief sexton) of stealing the money of the priest. He was tortured in the convent and died. Basilio, with his brother’s dying cries ringing in his ears, escaped. When the two boys did not return home, Sisa looked for them everywhere and, in her great sorrow, she became insane.
Capitan Tiago, Maria Clara, and Aunt Isabel (Capitan Tiago’s cousin who took care of Maria Clara, after his mother’s death) arrived in San Diego. Ibarra and his friends give picnic at the lake. Among those present in this picnic, were Maria Clara and her four girl friends the merry Siñang, the grave Victoria, the beautiful Iday, and the thoughtful Neneng; Aunt Isabel, chaperon of Maria Clara; Capitana Tika, mother of Siñang; Andeng, foster sister of Maria Clara; Albino, the ex-theological student who was in love with Siñang; and Ibarra and his friends. One of the boatmen was a strong and silent peasant youth named Elias.
An incident of the picnic was the saving of Elias’ life by Ibarra. Elias bravely grappled with a crocodile which was caught in the fish corral. But the crocodile struggled furiously so that Elias could not subdue it. Ibarra jumped into the water and killed the crocodile, thereby saving Elias. After the crocodile incident, was the rendering of a beautiful song by Maria Clara who had a sweet voice and they went ashore. They made merry in the cool, wooded meadow. Padre Salvi, Capitan Basilio (former gobernadorcillo and Siñang’s father) the alferez (lieutenant of the Guardia Civil) and the town officials were present. The luncheon was served, and everybody enjoyed eating.
The meal over, Ibarra and Capitan Basilio played chess, while Maria Clara and her friends played the “Wheel of Chance”, a game based on a fortune-telling book. As the girls were enjoying their fortune-telling game, Padre Salvi came and tore to pieces the book, saying that it was a sin to play such game. Shortly thereafter, a sergent and four soldiers of the Guardia Civil suddenly arrived, looking for Elias, who was hunted for assaulting Padre Damaso and throwing the alferez into a mud hole. Fortunately Elias had disappeared, and the Guardia Civil went away empty-handed. During the picnic also, Ibarra received a telegram from the Spanish authorities notifying him the approval of his donation of a schoolhouse for the children of San Diego.
The next day Ibarra visited old Tasio to consult him on his pet project about the schoolhouse. He saw the old man’s writings were written in hieroglyphics. Tasio explained to him that he wrote in hieroglyphics because he was writing for the future generations who would understand them and say, “Not all were asleep in the night of our ancestors!”
Meanwhile San Diego was merrily preparing for its annual fiesta, in honor of its patron saint San Diego de Alcala, whose feast day is the 11th of November. On the eve of the fiesta, hundreds of visitors arrived from the nearby towns, and there were laughter, music, exploding bombs, feasting and moro-moro. The music was furnished by five brass bands (including the famous Pagsanjan Band owned by the escribano Miguel Guevara) and three orchestras.
In the morning of the fiesta there was a high mass in the church, officiated by Padre Salvi. Padre Damaso gave the long sermon, in which he expatiated on the evils of the times that were caused by certain men, who having tasted some education spread pernicious ideas among the people.
After Padre Damaso’s sermon, the mass was continued by Padre Salve. Elias quietly moved to Ibarra, who was kneeling and praying by Maria Clara’s side, and warned him to be careful during the ceremony of the laying of the cornerstone of the schoolhouse because there was a plot to kill him.
Elias suspected that the yellowish man, who built the derrick, was a paid stooge of Ibarra’s enemies. True to his suspicion, later in the day, when Ibarra, in the presence of a big crowd, went down into the trench to cement the cornerstone, the derrick collapsed. Elias, quick as a flash, pushed him aside, thereby saving his life. The yellowish man was the one crushed to death by the shattered derrick.
At the sumptuous dinner that night under a decorated kiosk, a sad incident occurred. The arrogant Padre Damaso, speaking in the presence of many guests, insulted the memory of Ibarra’s father. Ibarra jumped to his seat, knocked down the fat friar with his fist, and then seized a sharp knife. He would have killed the friar, were it not for the timely intervention of Maria Clara.
The fiesta over, Maria Clara became ill. She was treated by the quack Spanish physician, Tiburcio de Espadaña, whose wife, a vain and vulgar native woman, was a frequent visitor in Capitan Tiago’s house. This woman had hallucinations of being a superior Castillan, and, although a native herself, she looked down on her own people as inferior beings. She added another “de” to her husband’s surname in order to more Spanish. Thus she wanted to be called “Doctora Doña Victorina de los Reyes de De Espadaña.” She introduced to Capitan Tiago’s young Spaniards, Don Alfonso Linares de Espadaña, cousin of Don Tiburcio de Espadaña and godson of Padre Damaso’s brother in law. Linares was a penniless and jobless, fortune hunter who came to the Philippines in search of a rich Filipino heiress. Both Doña Victorina and Padre Damaso sponsored his wooing of Maria Clara, but the latter did not respond because she loved Ibarra.
The story of Elias like that of Sisa, was a tale of pathos and tragedy. He related it to Ibarra. Some 60 years ago, his grandfather, who was then a young bookkeeper in a Spanish commercial firm in Manila, was wrongly accused of burning the firm’s warehouse. He was flogged in public and was left in the street, crippled and almost died. His was pregnant, beg for alms and became a prostitute in order to support her sick husband and their son. After giving birth to her second son and the death of her husband, she fled, with her to sons to the mountains.
Years later the first boy became a dreaded tulisan named Balat. He terrorized the provinces. One day he was caught by the authorities. His head was cut off and was hung from a tree branch in the forest. On seeing this gory object, the poor mother (Elias’ grandmother) died.
Balat’s younger brother, who was by nature kindhearted, fled and became a trusted laborer in the house of rich man in Tayabas. He fell in love with the master’s daughter. The girl’s father, enraged by the romance, investigated his past and found out the truth. The unfortunate lover (Elias’ father) was sent to jail, while the girl gave birth to twins, a boy (Elias) and a girl. Their rich grandfather took care of them, keeping secret their scandalous origin, and reared them as rich children. Elias was educated in the JesuitCollege in Manila, while his sister studied in La Concordia College. They lived happily, until one day, owing to certain dispute over money matters, a distant relative exposed their shameful birth. They were disgraced. An old male servant, whom they used to abuse, was forced to testify in court and the truth came out that he was their real father.
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Elias and his sister left Tayabas to hide their shame in another place. One day the sister disappeared. Elias roamed from place to place, looking for her. He heard later that a girl answering to his sister’s description, was found died on the beach of San Diego. Since then, Elias lived a vagabond life, wandering from province to province – until he met Ibarra.
Elias, learning of Ibarra’s arrest, burned all the papers that might incriminate his friend and set Ibarra’s house on fire. Then he went to prison and helped Ibarra escape. He and Ibarra jumped into a banca loaded with sacate (grass). Ibarra stopped at the house of Capitan Tiago to say goodbye to Maria Clara. In the tearful last scene between the two lovers, Ibarra forgave Maria Clara for giving up his letter to her to the Spanish authorities who utilized them as evidence against him. On her part, Maria Clara revealed that those letters were exchanged with a letter from her late mother, Pia Alba which Padre Salvi gave her. From his letter, she learned that her real father was Padre Damaso.
After bidding Maria Clara farewell, Ibarra returned to the banca. He and Elias paddled up the PasigRiver toward Laguna de Bay. A police boat, with the Guardia Civil on board, pursued them as their banca reached the lake. Elias told Ibarra to hide under the zacate. As the police boat was overtaking the banca, Elias jumped into the water and swam swiftly toward the shore. In this way, he diverted the attention of the soldiers on his person, thereby giving Ibarra a chance to escape. The soldier fired at the swimming Elias, who was hit and sank. The water turned red because of his blood. The soldiers, thinking that they had killed the fleeing Ibarra returned to Manila. Thus Ibarra was able to escape.
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Elias seriously wounded, reached the shore and staggered into the forest. He met a boy, Basilio, who was weeping over his mother’s dead body. He told Basilio to make a pyre on which their bodies (his and Sisa) were to be burned to ashes. It was Christmas eve, and the moon gleamed softly in the sky. Basilio prepared the funeral pyre. As life’s breath slowly left his body. Elias looked toward the east and murmured: “I die without seeing the dawn brighten over my native land.” You, who have it to see, welcome it! And forget not those who have fallen during the night.
The novel has an epilogue which recounts what happened to the other characters. Maria Clara, out of her loyalty to the memory of Ibarra, the man she truly loved, entered the Santa Clara nunnery. Padre Salvi left the parish of San Diego and became a chaplain of the nunnery. Padre Damaso was transferred to a remote province, but the next morning he was found dead in his bedroom. Capitan Tiago the former genial host and generous patron of the church became an opium addict and a human wreck. Doña Victorina, still henpecking poor Don Tiburcio, had taken to wearing eye-glasses because of weakening eyesight. Linares, who failed to win Maria Clara’s affection, died of dysentery and was buried in Paco cemetery.
The alferez, who successfully repulsed the abortive attack on the barracks, was promoted major. He returned to Spain, leaving behind his shabby mistress, Doña Consolacion.
The novel ends with Maria Clara, an unhappy nun in Santa Clara nunnery – forever lost to the world.
C. Synopsis of El filibusterismo
El Filibusterismo was Rizal's second novel published in Ghent, Belgium in 1891 with the financial help of Valentin Ventura. It is a sequel to his first novel, Noli Me Tangere.
The main character of El Filibusterismo is Simoun, a rich jeweler from Cuba. He was Crisostomo Ibarra of Noli Me Tangere who, with Elias' help, escaped from the pursuing soldiers at Laguna Lake, dug up his buried treasure, and sailed to Cuba where he became rich and made friends with many Spanish officials. After many years, he returns to the Philippines in disguise. He has become so powerful because he became an adviser of the governor-general. On the outside, Simoun is a friend of Spain. But deep in his heart, he is secretly planning a bitter revenge against the Spanish authorities. His obsessions are 1) to incite a revolution against the Spanish authorities, and 2) to rescue Maria Clara from the Sta.Clara convent.
Simoun is wealthy and mysterious, is a close friend of the Spanish governor general. He was nicknamed Brown Cardinal and Black Eminence because of his influence in Malaca?ang. By using his political influence and wealth, he encourages corruption in the government ans hastens the moral degradation of the country so that the people may become desperate and fight. He smuggles ammunitions into the country with the help of a rich Chinese merchant, Quiroga, who wants very much to be Chinese consul of Manila. Simoun's initial attempt to start the uprising did not push through because at the lat hour he heard the sad news that Maria Clara died in the convent. In his agonizing moment of bereavement, he did not give the signal for the attack.
After his illness brought about by the death of Maria Clara, Simoun fine-tunes his plan to overthrow the government. On the occasion of the wedding of Paulita Gomez and Juanito Pelaez, he gives a wedding gift to them a beautiful lamp. Only he and his confidential associate, Basilio (Sisa's son who joined the revolutionalry cause), know that when the wick of his lamp burns lower, the nitroglycerine hidden in a secret compartment of the lamp will explode. Thus, all the guests where the wedding feast is being held will be killed, including the governor-general, the friars, ans the government officials. At the same time, Simoun's followers will attack the government buildings in Manila.
As the wedding feast begins, Isagani, who has been rejected by Paulita because of his liberal ideas, is standing outside the house, sadly watching the merriment inside. Basilio chances upon Isagani and, warns him to go away because the lighted lamp will soon explode. Upon learning the secret of the lamp, Isagani realizes that her former girlfriend, Paulita was in grave danger. He rushes into the house to save her life. He steals the lamp and hurls it into the river where it explodes. The revolutionary plot was thus discovered.
Leading Topics
1. There is a need to understand Rizal's legacies in His two Novels
2. Rizals Write a spolarium
3. A brief summary of the main plot of Noli Me Tangere.
4. El Filibusterismo is Published
5. A brief summary of the main plot of El Filibusterismo
6. Various type of characters picture Philippine Society.
7. The promotion of the welfare of the Filipinos is the main aim of the Novels.
8. other intellectual Legacies of Rizal in two Novels.
Noli Me Tangere And El FIlibusterismo
- Two Historical Novels which form a part Of intellectual heritage of the Filipinos.
- They describe the political, economical, educational, religious and cultural life with great realism.
There is a Need to understand Rizal's Legacies in his two Novels.
- The wills, desire and struggle of beliefs and attitudes are presented.
- The readers cannot help but approve or reject the feeling, acting, and thinking of the characters in terms of his own sense of values.
- sharing the thoughts, emotion and behavior of the characters.
which in many cases are the thoughts emotion and behavior of Rizal, he shares the authors varied principles and action. THIS IS THE MAIN REASON WHY WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE INTELLECTUAL LEGACIES IN THE NOVEL
Rizal Writes a Spolarium
A. Characters in Noli Me Tangere
Juan Crisostomo Ibarra
He is the only son of Don Rafael Ibarra, the richest person in San Diego.
He studied in Europe for 7 years, and is the sweetheart of Maria Clara.
Maria Clara
She is the girlfriend of Ibarra.
As far as the society is concerned, she is the daughter of Kapitan Tiyago and Doña Pia Alba, but biologically, her father is Padre Damaso.
Sisa
Mother of Basilio and Crispin.
She has a drunkard for a husband. In the novel Sisa portrays a loving mother, and it could be assumed that Rizal likened her to his own mother.
Sisa is being maltreated by the Spaniards; similarly, our country is being abused by the Spaniards.
Doña Pia Alba
She is the mother of Maria Clara and the wife of Kapitan Tiyago.
She symbolizes our country, which ceaselessly gives in to foreign power.
Capitan Tiago
The father of Maria Clara, as far as the society knows.
Sometimes lovable, and sometimes annoying.
He is very biased and is only obedient to those who are higher in rank than him.
He has money on a pedestal.
Fray Damaso
He is the first parish priest in San Diego; he is very abusive.
He symbolizes the Spanish friars of Rizal's time.
Fray Salvi
He is a Franciscan parish priest of San Diego.
Because he is interested in Maria Clara, he and Padre Damaso devised a plan to break Ibarra and Maria Clara apart. They were successful.
Doña Victorina
Her fanatical adulation of the Spaniards leads her to imitate the very actions and attitudes of the Spanish women.
It may be said that she symbolizes the Filipinos in our society who are ashamed of their own race and nationality.
Doña Consolacion
She is a Filipino woman married to a Spaniard.
Her very actions and way of dressing will lead people to think that she is a whore.
Elias
He believes that justice can be obtained only through revolution --- reforms simply won't do.
He symbolizes the very root of the Filipino culture before the coming of the Spaniards, which remained strong and unbroken by the Spanish culture.
Pilosopong Tasyo
He is a wise man.
He embodies the intelligent people, who never left the country but instead educated themselves in a religious institution.
Characters in Elfilibusterismo
Simoun - Crisostomo Ibarra in disguise, left for dead at the end of Noli Me Tangere, has resurfaced as the wealthy jeweler, Simoun, now sporting a beard, blue-tinted glasses, and a revolver. Fueled by his mistreatment at the hands of the Spaniards and his fury at Maria Clara's fate, he has since shed his pacifist image and become the titular "filibustero", pretending to side with the upper class and encouraging them to enslave the masses, while in reality siding with the masses and urging them to revolt against the oppressive Spanish regime. This time, he does not attempt to fight the authorities with knowledge, but by force. He concocts a plot to set off a bomb disguised as a beautiful lamp at a wedding where important members of civil society and the church hierarchy are in attendance. Unfortunately for him, his plan fails and he commits suicide by consuming poison.
Basilio - After the tragic deaths of his mother and younger brother, Basilio heeds the advice of the dying boatman, Elias, and travels to Manila to study. At first he is frowned upon by his peers and teachers not only because of the color of his skin but also because of his shabby appearance, but redeems himself in their eyes by participating in a fencing contest--and winning. He soon becomes an exceptional medical student, but his plans to graduate and become a full-time doctor are postponed by an encounter with Simoun, who, upon bringing up the deaths of his relatives, convinces him to aid him in his plots. At first, the young man is reluctant, but the death of his sweetheart Juliana drives him to fight wholeheartedly by Simoun's side. He helps Simoun smuggle in a bomb into a wedding reception, but relents later on and warns his best friend Isagani of the impending danger.
Isagani - Basilio's best friend. While Basilio is an aspiring doctor, Isagani, on the other hand, is a budding poet, and he, along with Basilio, plans to establish a school wherein indios such as themselves may learn Spanish. Unlike Basilio, he does not get along well with Simoun, and is much more emotional and reactive than his friend. Isagani experiences a rocky relationship with his rich girlfriend, Paulita Gomez, who eventually dumps him and marries Isagani's fellow student, Juanito Pelaez. Heartbroken, Isagani refuses at first to listen to Basilio when the latter warns him to get away from the would-be epicenter of the explosion, but eventually foils Simoun's plan, racing into the reception in time to prevent the explosion from happening.
Cabesang Tales - Once a farmer owning a prosperous sugarcane plantation, he was forced to give everything to a bunch of unscrupulous Spanish friars. From then on, everything went downhill for Tales: his son, Tano, who became a civil guard was captured by bandits; his daughter Juliana had to work as a maid to get enough ransom money for his freedom; and his father, Tandang Selo, suffered a stroke and became mute. His personality becomes darker after all this suffering and he resorts to killing people. His father, Tandang Selo, dies eventually after his own son Tano, who became a guardia civil, accidentally shots his grandfather in an encounter.
Don Custodio - A famous "journalist" who was asked by the students about his decision for the Academia de Castellano. In reality, he is quite an ordinary fellow who married a rich woman in order to be a member of Manila's elite society. A good debater, he hates when others also believe in what he believes in and praises the indios in public, yet denigrates them in private. He has a mistress, a dancer named Pepay.
Paulita Gomez - The girlfriend of Isagani and the niece of Donya Victorina, the old Filipina, who, in Noli Me Tangere, is the wife of the quack doctor Tiburcio. In the end, she and Juanito Pelaez are wed, and she dumps Isagani, believeing that she will have no future if she marries him.
Padre Florentino - Isagani's godfather, and a secular priest. He is the priest whom Simoun confides to at the end of the story. When Simoun dies, he throws the latter's treasure into the ocean. He was engaged to be married, but chose the priesthood instead. The story hints at the ambivalence of his decision when he chooses an assignment to a remote place, living in solitude near the sea. Speaking through the character of Florentino, Rizal reaffirms his condemnation of a bloody revolution and his commitment to peaceful reforms.
B. Synopsis of "Noli Me Tangere"
The novel Noli Me Tangere contains 63 chapters and epilogue. It begins with a reception given by Capitan Tiago (Santiago de los Santos) at his house in Calle Analogue (now Juan Luna Street) on the last day of October. The reception or dinner is given in honor of Crisostomo Ibarra, a young and rich Filipino who had just returned after seven years of study in Europe. Ibarra was the only son of Don Rafael Ibarra, friend of Capitan Tiago, and a fiancé of beautiful Maria Clara, supposed daughter of Capitan Tiago.
Among the guests during the reception were Padre Damaso, a fat Franciscan friar who had been parish priest for 20 years of San Diego (Calamba), Ibarra’s native town; Padre Sybila, a young Dominican parish priest of Binondo; Señor Guevara, as elderly and kind lieutenant of the Guardia Civil; Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, a bogus Spanish physician, lame, and henpecked husband of Doña Victorina; and several ladies.
Ibarra, upon his arrival, produced a favorable impression among the guests, except Padre Damaso, who has rude to him. In accordance with a German custom, he introduced himself to the ladies.
During the dinner the conversation centered on Ibarra’s studies and travels abroad. Padre Damaso was in bad mood because he got a bony neck and a hard wing of the chicken tinola. He tried to discredit Ibarra’s remarks.
After dinner, Ibarra left Capitan Tiago’s house to return to his hotel. On the way, the kind Lieutenant Guevara told him the sad story of his father’s death in San Diego. Don Rafael, his father, was a rich and brave man. He defended a helpless boy from the brutality of an illiterate Spanish tax collector, pushing the latter and accidentally killing him. Don Rafael was thrown in prison, where he died unhappily. He was buried in consecrated ground, but his enemies, accusing him being a heretic, had his body removed from the cemetery.
On hearing about his father’s sad story, Ibarra thanked the kind Spanish lieutenant and vowed to find out the truth about his father’s death.
The following morning, he visited Maria Clara, his childhood sweetheart. Maria Clara teasingly said that he had forgotten her because the girls in Germany were beautiful. Ibarra replied that he had never forgotten her.
After the romantic reunion with Maria Clara, Ibarra went to San Diego to visit his father’s grave. It was All Saint’s Day. At the cemetery, the grave digger told Ibarra that the corpse of Don Rafael was removed by order of the parish priest to be, buried in the Chinese cemetery; but the corpse was heavy and it was a dark and rainy night so that he (the grave-digger) simply threw the corpse into the lake.
Ibarra was angered by the grave-digger’s story. He left the cemetery. On the way, he met Padre Salvi, Franciscan parish priest of San Diego. In a flash, Ibarra pounced on the priest, demanding redress for desecrating his father’s mortal remains. Padre told him that he had nothing to do with it, for he was not the parish priest at the time of Don Rafael’s death. It was Padre Damaso, his predecessor, who was responsible for it. Convinced for Padre Salvi’s innocence, Ibarra went away.
In his town Ibarra met several interesting people, such as the wise old man, Tasio the philosopher, whose ideas were too advanced for his times so that the people, who could not understand him, called him “Tasio the Lunatic;” the progressive school teacher, who complained to Ibarra that the children were losing interest to their studies because of the lack proper school house and the discouraging attitude of the parish friar towards both the teaching of Spanish and of the use of modern methods of pedagogy; the spineless gobernadorcillo, who catered to the wishes of the Spanish parish friars; Don Filipo Lino, the teniente-mayor and leader of the cuardrilleros (town police); and the former gobernadorcillos who were prominent citizens Don Basilio and Don Valentin.
A most tragic story in the novel is the tale of Sisa, who was formerly a rich girl but became poor because she married a gambler, and a wastrel at that. She became crazy because she lost her two boys, Basilio and Crispin, the joy of her wretched life. These boys were sacristanes (sextons) in the church, working for a small wage to support their poor mother. Crispin the younger of the two brothers was accused by the brutal sacristan mayor (chief sexton) of stealing the money of the priest. He was tortured in the convent and died. Basilio, with his brother’s dying cries ringing in his ears, escaped. When the two boys did not return home, Sisa looked for them everywhere and, in her great sorrow, she became insane.
Capitan Tiago, Maria Clara, and Aunt Isabel (Capitan Tiago’s cousin who took care of Maria Clara, after his mother’s death) arrived in San Diego. Ibarra and his friends give picnic at the lake. Among those present in this picnic, were Maria Clara and her four girl friends the merry Siñang, the grave Victoria, the beautiful Iday, and the thoughtful Neneng; Aunt Isabel, chaperon of Maria Clara; Capitana Tika, mother of Siñang; Andeng, foster sister of Maria Clara; Albino, the ex-theological student who was in love with Siñang; and Ibarra and his friends. One of the boatmen was a strong and silent peasant youth named Elias.
An incident of the picnic was the saving of Elias’ life by Ibarra. Elias bravely grappled with a crocodile which was caught in the fish corral. But the crocodile struggled furiously so that Elias could not subdue it. Ibarra jumped into the water and killed the crocodile, thereby saving Elias. After the crocodile incident, was the rendering of a beautiful song by Maria Clara who had a sweet voice and they went ashore. They made merry in the cool, wooded meadow. Padre Salvi, Capitan Basilio (former gobernadorcillo and Siñang’s father) the alferez (lieutenant of the Guardia Civil) and the town officials were present. The luncheon was served, and everybody enjoyed eating.
The meal over, Ibarra and Capitan Basilio played chess, while Maria Clara and her friends played the “Wheel of Chance”, a game based on a fortune-telling book. As the girls were enjoying their fortune-telling game, Padre Salvi came and tore to pieces the book, saying that it was a sin to play such game. Shortly thereafter, a sergent and four soldiers of the Guardia Civil suddenly arrived, looking for Elias, who was hunted for assaulting Padre Damaso and throwing the alferez into a mud hole. Fortunately Elias had disappeared, and the Guardia Civil went away empty-handed. During the picnic also, Ibarra received a telegram from the Spanish authorities notifying him the approval of his donation of a schoolhouse for the children of San Diego.
The next day Ibarra visited old Tasio to consult him on his pet project about the schoolhouse. He saw the old man’s writings were written in hieroglyphics. Tasio explained to him that he wrote in hieroglyphics because he was writing for the future generations who would understand them and say, “Not all were asleep in the night of our ancestors!”
Meanwhile San Diego was merrily preparing for its annual fiesta, in honor of its patron saint San Diego de Alcala, whose feast day is the 11th of November. On the eve of the fiesta, hundreds of visitors arrived from the nearby towns, and there were laughter, music, exploding bombs, feasting and moro-moro. The music was furnished by five brass bands (including the famous Pagsanjan Band owned by the escribano Miguel Guevara) and three orchestras.
In the morning of the fiesta there was a high mass in the church, officiated by Padre Salvi. Padre Damaso gave the long sermon, in which he expatiated on the evils of the times that were caused by certain men, who having tasted some education spread pernicious ideas among the people.
After Padre Damaso’s sermon, the mass was continued by Padre Salve. Elias quietly moved to Ibarra, who was kneeling and praying by Maria Clara’s side, and warned him to be careful during the ceremony of the laying of the cornerstone of the schoolhouse because there was a plot to kill him.
Elias suspected that the yellowish man, who built the derrick, was a paid stooge of Ibarra’s enemies. True to his suspicion, later in the day, when Ibarra, in the presence of a big crowd, went down into the trench to cement the cornerstone, the derrick collapsed. Elias, quick as a flash, pushed him aside, thereby saving his life. The yellowish man was the one crushed to death by the shattered derrick.
At the sumptuous dinner that night under a decorated kiosk, a sad incident occurred. The arrogant Padre Damaso, speaking in the presence of many guests, insulted the memory of Ibarra’s father. Ibarra jumped to his seat, knocked down the fat friar with his fist, and then seized a sharp knife. He would have killed the friar, were it not for the timely intervention of Maria Clara.
The fiesta over, Maria Clara became ill. She was treated by the quack Spanish physician, Tiburcio de Espadaña, whose wife, a vain and vulgar native woman, was a frequent visitor in Capitan Tiago’s house. This woman had hallucinations of being a superior Castillan, and, although a native herself, she looked down on her own people as inferior beings. She added another “de” to her husband’s surname in order to more Spanish. Thus she wanted to be called “Doctora Doña Victorina de los Reyes de De Espadaña.” She introduced to Capitan Tiago’s young Spaniards, Don Alfonso Linares de Espadaña, cousin of Don Tiburcio de Espadaña and godson of Padre Damaso’s brother in law. Linares was a penniless and jobless, fortune hunter who came to the Philippines in search of a rich Filipino heiress. Both Doña Victorina and Padre Damaso sponsored his wooing of Maria Clara, but the latter did not respond because she loved Ibarra.
The story of Elias like that of Sisa, was a tale of pathos and tragedy. He related it to Ibarra. Some 60 years ago, his grandfather, who was then a young bookkeeper in a Spanish commercial firm in Manila, was wrongly accused of burning the firm’s warehouse. He was flogged in public and was left in the street, crippled and almost died. His was pregnant, beg for alms and became a prostitute in order to support her sick husband and their son. After giving birth to her second son and the death of her husband, she fled, with her to sons to the mountains.
Years later the first boy became a dreaded tulisan named Balat. He terrorized the provinces. One day he was caught by the authorities. His head was cut off and was hung from a tree branch in the forest. On seeing this gory object, the poor mother (Elias’ grandmother) died.
Balat’s younger brother, who was by nature kindhearted, fled and became a trusted laborer in the house of rich man in Tayabas. He fell in love with the master’s daughter. The girl’s father, enraged by the romance, investigated his past and found out the truth. The unfortunate lover (Elias’ father) was sent to jail, while the girl gave birth to twins, a boy (Elias) and a girl. Their rich grandfather took care of them, keeping secret their scandalous origin, and reared them as rich children. Elias was educated in the JesuitCollege in Manila, while his sister studied in La Concordia College. They lived happily, until one day, owing to certain dispute over money matters, a distant relative exposed their shameful birth. They were disgraced. An old male servant, whom they used to abuse, was forced to testify in court and the truth came out that he was their real father.
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Elias and his sister left Tayabas to hide their shame in another place. One day the sister disappeared. Elias roamed from place to place, looking for her. He heard later that a girl answering to his sister’s description, was found died on the beach of San Diego. Since then, Elias lived a vagabond life, wandering from province to province – until he met Ibarra.
Elias, learning of Ibarra’s arrest, burned all the papers that might incriminate his friend and set Ibarra’s house on fire. Then he went to prison and helped Ibarra escape. He and Ibarra jumped into a banca loaded with sacate (grass). Ibarra stopped at the house of Capitan Tiago to say goodbye to Maria Clara. In the tearful last scene between the two lovers, Ibarra forgave Maria Clara for giving up his letter to her to the Spanish authorities who utilized them as evidence against him. On her part, Maria Clara revealed that those letters were exchanged with a letter from her late mother, Pia Alba which Padre Salvi gave her. From his letter, she learned that her real father was Padre Damaso.
After bidding Maria Clara farewell, Ibarra returned to the banca. He and Elias paddled up the PasigRiver toward Laguna de Bay. A police boat, with the Guardia Civil on board, pursued them as their banca reached the lake. Elias told Ibarra to hide under the zacate. As the police boat was overtaking the banca, Elias jumped into the water and swam swiftly toward the shore. In this way, he diverted the attention of the soldiers on his person, thereby giving Ibarra a chance to escape. The soldier fired at the swimming Elias, who was hit and sank. The water turned red because of his blood. The soldiers, thinking that they had killed the fleeing Ibarra returned to Manila. Thus Ibarra was able to escape.
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Elias seriously wounded, reached the shore and staggered into the forest. He met a boy, Basilio, who was weeping over his mother’s dead body. He told Basilio to make a pyre on which their bodies (his and Sisa) were to be burned to ashes. It was Christmas eve, and the moon gleamed softly in the sky. Basilio prepared the funeral pyre. As life’s breath slowly left his body. Elias looked toward the east and murmured: “I die without seeing the dawn brighten over my native land.” You, who have it to see, welcome it! And forget not those who have fallen during the night.
The novel has an epilogue which recounts what happened to the other characters. Maria Clara, out of her loyalty to the memory of Ibarra, the man she truly loved, entered the Santa Clara nunnery. Padre Salvi left the parish of San Diego and became a chaplain of the nunnery. Padre Damaso was transferred to a remote province, but the next morning he was found dead in his bedroom. Capitan Tiago the former genial host and generous patron of the church became an opium addict and a human wreck. Doña Victorina, still henpecking poor Don Tiburcio, had taken to wearing eye-glasses because of weakening eyesight. Linares, who failed to win Maria Clara’s affection, died of dysentery and was buried in Paco cemetery.
The alferez, who successfully repulsed the abortive attack on the barracks, was promoted major. He returned to Spain, leaving behind his shabby mistress, Doña Consolacion.
The novel ends with Maria Clara, an unhappy nun in Santa Clara nunnery – forever lost to the world.
C. Synopsis of El filibusterismo
El Filibusterismo was Rizal's second novel published in Ghent, Belgium in 1891 with the financial help of Valentin Ventura. It is a sequel to his first novel, Noli Me Tangere.
The main character of El Filibusterismo is Simoun, a rich jeweler from Cuba. He was Crisostomo Ibarra of Noli Me Tangere who, with Elias' help, escaped from the pursuing soldiers at Laguna Lake, dug up his buried treasure, and sailed to Cuba where he became rich and made friends with many Spanish officials. After many years, he returns to the Philippines in disguise. He has become so powerful because he became an adviser of the governor-general. On the outside, Simoun is a friend of Spain. But deep in his heart, he is secretly planning a bitter revenge against the Spanish authorities. His obsessions are 1) to incite a revolution against the Spanish authorities, and 2) to rescue Maria Clara from the Sta.Clara convent.
Simoun is wealthy and mysterious, is a close friend of the Spanish governor general. He was nicknamed Brown Cardinal and Black Eminence because of his influence in Malaca?ang. By using his political influence and wealth, he encourages corruption in the government ans hastens the moral degradation of the country so that the people may become desperate and fight. He smuggles ammunitions into the country with the help of a rich Chinese merchant, Quiroga, who wants very much to be Chinese consul of Manila. Simoun's initial attempt to start the uprising did not push through because at the lat hour he heard the sad news that Maria Clara died in the convent. In his agonizing moment of bereavement, he did not give the signal for the attack.
After his illness brought about by the death of Maria Clara, Simoun fine-tunes his plan to overthrow the government. On the occasion of the wedding of Paulita Gomez and Juanito Pelaez, he gives a wedding gift to them a beautiful lamp. Only he and his confidential associate, Basilio (Sisa's son who joined the revolutionalry cause), know that when the wick of his lamp burns lower, the nitroglycerine hidden in a secret compartment of the lamp will explode. Thus, all the guests where the wedding feast is being held will be killed, including the governor-general, the friars, ans the government officials. At the same time, Simoun's followers will attack the government buildings in Manila.
As the wedding feast begins, Isagani, who has been rejected by Paulita because of his liberal ideas, is standing outside the house, sadly watching the merriment inside. Basilio chances upon Isagani and, warns him to go away because the lighted lamp will soon explode. Upon learning the secret of the lamp, Isagani realizes that her former girlfriend, Paulita was in grave danger. He rushes into the house to save her life. He steals the lamp and hurls it into the river where it explodes. The revolutionary plot was thus discovered.