NOLI ME

TANGERE
SUBMITTED BY:
CUAÑO, MA. JOY DANIELLE L.
BS MT 2-1
Intr oduction
• Noli me Tangere or “Touch me Not” is Jose P.Rizal first novel written in
Spanish Language and was published in 1887 at Berlin. This Novel was
historically significant and an instrument in establishing and awakening the
Filipino's sense of identity during the spanish colonization

• It talked about the Spaniard’s arrogance and despicable use of religion to

achieve their own desires and rise to power. Thus it indirectly influenced a
revolution although Jose Rizal actually advocated for direct representation to
the spanish government and larger role of the Philippines

• “Noli Me Tangere” is a latin phrase that Rizal used as the the title of his first
novel which he actually took from the bible. It was actually the words used by
Jesus Christ to Mary Magdalene when she saw him resurrected from the dead
written in John 20:13-17 :

“Touch me not; I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my

Brethen, and say unto them I ascend unto my father and your
father ,and to my god and your God”

In english language, it roughly translated as “Touch Me not”. The English

Translation of Charles Derbyshire was titled “The Social Cancer”

NOTABLE PURPOSES
1. To picture the past and the realities in the Philippines
2. To reply to insults heaped on the Filipinos and their country
3. To unmask the hypocrisy that have impoverished and brutalized the
Filipino people
4. To stir the patriotism of the Filipino people

Facts and Trivia

• Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin - Inspired Dr. Jose Rizal to
prepare a novel that would depict the “miseries of his people under the lash
of Spanish tyrants”
Facts and Trivia
• Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin - Inspired Dr. Jose Rizal to
prepare a novel that would depict the “miseries of his people under the lash
of Spanish tyrants”
• January 2, 1884 - Rizal proposed the writings of a novel to a group of
Filipinos, “Circulo Hispano” during a reunion in Paterno Residence in Madrid.
When Details were discussed, most of the Filipinos wanted to write about
characters and activities of the Filipino Women - they are not interested in
Rizal's project. So, he decided to write the book by himself
- Rizal Joined the Brotherhood of Masons for more mature contacts and
enlightenment to complete book
• Madrid - at the end of 1884, Rizal began writing the novel and finish one
half of it
• Paris(1885) - after completion of his studies in the Central University of
Madrid, Rizal continued writing his novel and finished one half of the second
half of it. He was inspired through the immortal declaration of the rights of
man (passed and being implemented).
• Germany - Rizal wrote the last few chapters of the Noli in Wilhelmsfeld in
April - June 1886. In here Scientific research and Philosoply were free from
church and state control
• Berlin - During winter days of February 1886, 6, Rizal made the final
revisions on the manuscript of the Noli
• Maximo Viola - “ savior of Noli”, loaned Rizal the needed funds to publish
the novel
• Rizal put the finishing touches on his novel after Christmas. In order to save
printing expenses, he deleted certain passages including a whole chapter -
“Elias and Salome”
• February 21, 1887 - Noli was finally finished and ready for printing
• Berliner Buchdruckrei-Action-Gesselschaft- A printing shop in Berlin
which charged the lowest rate of 300 pesos for 2,00 copies of the novel.
• March 21, 1887- the Noli Me Tangere came off the press
Facts
•
andof theTrivia
March 29, 1887 - as a token of appreciation and gratitude, Rizal gave Viola
the galley proofs Noli carefully rolled around the pen that he used
in writing it and a complimentary copy: “To my dear friend, Maximo Viola,
the first to read and appreciate my work—Jose Rizal”
• Rizal studied Hebrew to enable him to interpret the Bible in its original text
and be better prepared to defend any controversial religious issues that
might arises from Noli Me Tangere. He translated then some passages of
the bible he used in the book
• The novel Noli Me Tangere contains 63 chapters and an epilogue
• During that time, Noli Me Tangere was banned in the colonial Philippines
because it was labeled as subversive - the Prayle and the Catholic Church
did everything in their power to suppress its publication and distribution
- Streisand Effect: the ban made more Filipinos much more interested
about the book.

• Chapter 25 - the missing chapter : entitled as Elias and Salome was

discarded by Rizal for being deemed irrelevant to the story. this chapter is
about Elias talking with his Star-Crossed Love Interest. The manuscript
was later found, and it is now being included in more recent editions of the
novel, like in Almario's Filipino-language translation.

• Most major characters in Noli Me Tangere are based on people Rizal knew.
Character s of Noli Me Tangere

• Maria Clara-was Leonor Rivera, although in real life she became unfaithful
and married an Englishman

• Ibarra and Elias- represented Rizal himself

• Tasio- the philosopher was Rizal’s elder brother Paciano

• Padre Salvi-was identified by Rizalists as Padre Antonio Piernavieja, the

hated Augustinian friar in Cavite who was killed by the patriots during the
Revolution

• Capitan Tiago-was Captain Hilario Sunico of San Nicolas

• Doña Victorina- was Doña Agustina Medel

• Basilio and Crispin- were the Crisostomo brothers of Hagono

• Padre Damaso- typical of a domineering friar during the days of Rizal, who
was arrogant, immoral and anti-Filipino

Summar y
Juan Crisostomo Ibarra is a young Filipino who, after studying for
seven years in Europe, returns to his native land to find that his father, a
wealthy landowner, has died in prison as the result of a quarrel with the
parish curate, a Franciscan friar named Padre Damaso. Ibarra is
engaged to a beautiful and accomplished girl, Maria Clara, the supposed
daughter and only child of the rich Don Santiago de los Santos,
commonly known as “Capitan Tiago.”
Summar y
Ibarra resolves to forego all quarrels and to work for the betterment of
his people. To show his good intentions, he seeks to establish, at his
own expense, a public school in his native town. He meets with
ostensible support from all, especially Padre Damaso’s successor, a
young and gloomy Franciscan named Padre Salvi, for whom Maria
Clara confesses to an instinctive dread. At the laying of the cornerstone
for the new schoolhouse, a suspicious accident, apparently aimed at
Ibarra’s life, occurs, but the festivities proceed until the dinner, where
Ibarra is grossly and wantonly insulted over the memory of his father by
Fray Damaso. The young man loses control of himself and is about to
kill the friar, who is saved by the intervention of Maria Clara.

Ibarra is excommunicated, and Capitan Tiago, through his fear of

the friars, is forced to break the engagement and agree to the marriage
of Maria Clara with a young and inoffensive Spaniard provided by Padre
Damaso. Obedient to her reputed father’s command and influenced by
her mysterious dread of Padre Salvi, Maria Clara consents to this
arrangement, but becomes seriously ill, only to be saved by medicines
sent secretly by Ibarra and clandestinely administered by a girl friend.

Ibarra succeeds in having the excommunication removed, but

before he can explain matters, an uprising against the Civil Guard is
secretly brought about through agents of Padre Salvi, and the leadership
is ascribed to Ibarra to ruin him. He is warned by a mysterious friend, an
outlaw called Elias, whose life he had accidentally saved; but desiring
first to see Maria Clara, he refuses to make his escape, and when the
outbreak page occurs, he is arrested as the instigator of it and thrown
into prison in Manila.

On the evening when Capitan Tiago gives a ball in his Manila house to
celebrate his supposed daughter’s engagement, Ibarra makes his escape
from prison and succeeds in seeing Maria Clara alone. He begins to
reproach her because it is a letter written to her before he went to Europe
which forms the basis of the charge against him, but she clears herself of
treachery to him. The letter had been secured from her by false
representations and in exchange for two others written by her mother just
before her birth, which prove that Padre Damaso is her real father.
Summar y
These letters had been accidentally discovered in the convento by
Padre Salvi, who made use of them to intimidate the girl and get
possession of Ibarra’s letter, from which he forged others to incriminate
the young man. She tells him that she will marry the young Spaniard,
sacrificing herself thus to save her mother’s name and Capitan Tiago’s
honor and to prevent a public scandal, but that she will always remain
true to him.

Ibarra’s escape had been effected by Elias, who conveys him in a

banka up the Pasig to the Lake, where they are so closely beset by the
Civil Guard that Elias leaps into the water and draws the pursuers away
from the boat, in which Ibarra lies concealed. On Christmas Eve, at the
tomb of the Ibarras in a gloomy wood, Elias appears, wounded and
dying, to find there a boy named Basilio beside the corpse of his mother,
a poor woman who had been driven to insanity by her husband’s neglect
and abuses on the part of the Civil Guard, her younger son having page
disappeared some time before in the convento, where he was a
sacristan. Basilio, who is ignorant of Elias’s identity, helps him to build a
funeral pyre, on which his corpse and the madwoman’s are to be burned.

Upon learning of the reported death of Ibarra in the chase on the

Lake, Maria Clara becomes disconsolate and begs her supposed
godfather, Fray Damaso, to put her in a nunnery. Unconscious of her
knowledge of their true relationship, the friar breaks down and confesses
that all the trouble he has stirred up with the Ibarras has been to prevent
her from marrying a native, which would condemn her and her children
to the oppressed and enslaved class. He finally yields to her entreaties
and she enters the nunnery of St. Clara, to which Padre Salvi is soon
assigned in a ministerial capacity.
Cover
The Cover Symbols
• SILHOUETTE OF A FILIPINA
̵ woman’s head atop a Maria Clara bodice: represents the nation and
the women, victims of the social cancer.
- Popular belief: the silhouette of the woman is the unfortunate Maria
Clara.
"'Padre Cura! Padre Cura!' [Padre Salvi] the Spaniards cried to
him; but he did not mind them. He ran in the direction of the
Capitan Tiago's house. There he breathed a sigh of relief. He
saw through the transparent gallery an adorable silhouette full
of grace and the lovely contours of Maria Clara and that of her
aunt bearing glasses and cups."

• HELMET OF THE GUARDIA CIVIL/CONSTABULARY HELMET

- An obvious take on the arrogance of those in authority.
- Shows aggravating causes of oppression and discrimination

• A MAN IN A CASSOCK WITH HAIRY FEET,

- Shows one of the causes of cancer in the Philippines that causes
oppression and discrimination
- representation for priests using religion in a dirty way

• FLOGS
- another symbolism for cruelties
- representation of Jesus Christ’s scourging before his imminent
crucifixion

• TEACHER'S WHIP AND ALFEREZ'S SCOURGE

- Shows aggravating causes of oppression and discrimination
- Represents the cruelties present in the novel

• BAMBOO STALKS
- Resilience
- Represents the people, forever in the background of their own
country’s history

• A LENGTH OF CHAIN
- representation of slavery and imprisonment
The Cover Symbols
• CROSS, MAZE, FLOWERS, THORNY PLANTS AND FLAME
̵ representation of suffering and death
- these are indicative of the religious policy, the misdirected ardor, the
people strangled as a result of these all
- Magnifies the discrimination towards Filipinos, Chinese Mestizos
and Spaniards during this time towards a proper burial.

• BURNING TORCH
- Represents a phrase that could possibly mean everything to every
single suffering Filipinos: “The rise of the revolution is now at hand.”

• POMELO BLOSSOMS AND LAUREL LEAVES

- They roughly represent faith, honor and fidelity.
- Filipinos in this time wants to embody these three virtues that
Rizal represented as two plants

• SUNFLOWERS
- Rizal’s observation towards the happiness of the Filipinos are, in the
Spanish times, are only fulfilled through their giving in and bowing
down to the more powerful entity: Spain