SCHOOL OF TEACHER EDUCATION

ENG 113
SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH
2nd SEMESTER, A.Y. 2022-2023

Noli Me Tangere Character List

Juan 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. The priests of San
Diego all view him with great wariness on account of his highly liberal education and connections. His
father, the equally idealistic Don Rafael, was labeled a subversive and a heretic by the corrupt
priesthood and incarcerated, ultimately leading to his death. Ibarra hopes to create a school in San
Diego in order to carry out his father's dreams and ideals, but he becomes entangled in conflicts with
the church and is forced to flee San Diego as a result of a conspiracy led by the scheming Father
Salvi. In contrast to his more radical friend Elías, Ibarra generally wants to work within systems to
reform the Philippines, rather than overthrow them, but he shifts towards Elias's beliefs as the novel
progresses.

Maria Clara
A woman of high social standing, she is thought to be the daughter of Capitan Tiago and
goddaughter of Father Dámaso. She is actually the biological daughter of Father Dámaso, the
product of a scandalous relationship between the old priest and Capitan Tiago’s wife. María Clara
grew up alongside Ibarra and planned to marry him, but Father Dámaso disapproved of the union.
After Ibarra is excommunicated from the church, her guardians set her up to be wed to Linares, a
wealthy young man of Spanish descent, and she tries to go along with the plan to avoid hurting her
father, the weak-willed Capitan Tiago. When Ibarra is put on trial for sedition, she is coerced into
surrendering the letters Ibarra has sent her as evidence of his guilt. Ultimately, when she hears of
Ibarra's apparent death, she refuses to marry Linares and joins a convent.

Father Damaso
Father Damaso is 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 in him for his “flock.” He is
deeply racist, as well as petty and vindictive, and he thinks nothing of using his considerable
influence to ruin the lives of those who have slighted him, regardless of how small the offense is. He
masterminded the death of Don Rafael Ibarra, then brazenly taunted the younger Ibarra. After he
publically insults Ibarra's father, Ibarra attacks him and he excommunicates Ibarra from the church.
He is also the godfather (and, in fact, the biological father) of María Clara, giving him influence over
her relationship with Ibarra.
Elias
A mysterious character, Elías is a man on the run from the law who resents both the Spanish
colonial government and the Catholic Church, despite his strong religious convictions. He crosses
paths with the more temperate Ibarra when Ibarra bravely saves him from a crocodile. Elías uncovers
a plot against Ibarra's life and works closely with him throughout the second half of the novel. He
and Ibarra have several long conversations regarding the ethics of politics and governance, with Elias
taking a more revolutionary stance.

Father Salvi
A younger, more cunning Spanish priest who assumes control over Father Damaso’s post as
friar curate of San Diego. He is in many regards more dangerous that his precursor as he is a more
gifted strategist who uses his religious role for political influence as well as personal vendettas. He
frequently fights with the town's ensign for power. His most significant role in the novel comes
through his plot to ruin Ibarra, who is engaged to María Clara, who he is in love with.

Captain Tiago (Don Santiago de los Santos)

Capitan Tiago is a rarity in that he is a wealthy Filipino who is native-born. He keeps close ties
with high-ranking members of the Catholic Church, despite actually having no respect for religion,
and shamelessly joins in others' racist insults against his own people. His primary concern is to marry
off his daughter, María Clara, to an affluent man from an influential family. This is one of the main
reasons that he is quick to toss aside his loyalties to Ibarra when he is labeled a subversive. His
predilection for advantageous social pairings makes him quick to assent to Linares as a potential new
match for his daughter.

Doña Consolación
The pugnacious wife of The Ensign, Doña Consolación is an older Filipina woman who is
ashamed of her heritage and pretends to be unable to speak Tagalog, her own native language. She
fights with her husband frequently and makes many of her husband's decisions for him. Despite
being described as very ugly, she is proud and demands respect from others.

Don Rafael Ibarra

Crisostomo Ibarra’s father is posthumously mentioned in the novel. A critic of the corrupt
practices of the Spanish friars, he earns the ire of the vitriolic Father Dámaso, who accuses him of
sedition and heresy. He dies in prison before his name can be cleared. His remains are buried in the
Catholic cemetery in the town of San Diego, but Father Dámaso hires a gravedigger to disinter his
body to have him buried at the Chinese cemetery because of his status as a heretic.

Crispín
A young boy studying to be a church caretaker, Crispin and his brother Basilio work
ceaselessly to send support money to their beleaguered mother, Sisa. Crispin is blamed for stealing
money from the church coffers by the head sexton and is kept a virtual prisoner until the debt is
paid. On the night that he and his brother were to visit their mother, the head sexton keeps them
until the curfew, effectively barring the brothers from travelling. The head sexton beats him and he is
never seen again afterward, presumably dying at the hands of the cruel head sexton, though another
church official claims he escaped.
Basilio
Basilio is Crispin's older brother. Like his younger brother, he works as a sexton. Basilio makes
a desperate run for their home the night Crispin is dragged away and attempts to locate his younger
brother the day after, but his search efforts are fruitless. The following day, the Civil Guard comes
looking for him and his brother. Fearing for his life, he runs to the forest where he goes into hiding,
living with kind family until Christmas Eve. When he finally locates Sisa, he learns that she has gone
mad from grief and is thus unable to identify him as her son. He follows her to the forest, where she
regains her wits temporarily and then dies from the shock.

Doctor Tiburcio de Espadaña

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.
Despite having no medical experience, he travels the countryside posing as a doctor, charging
extortionate fees for his so-called services after his wife encourages him to pretend to be a doctor.
His patients eventually catch wind of his schemes and he is forced to relocate to another area where
he is all but unknown. He finds his way to San Diego, where he resumes his fake medical practice.
La Doctora Victorina de los Reyes de Espadaña

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
support the Ibarras and is vocal about his dislike of Father Damaso’s control. He informs Crispostomo
Ibarra of the fate of his father and how Father Damaso was involved in his death.

Linares
Dr. de Espadaña’s nephew, a respectable young Spanish man. Like his uncle, he has forged
credentials and hopes to climb through the social ranks.

The Schoolmaster
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. The friars closely watch the material being taught in the school, forbidding
him from teaching Spanish. The schoolmaster is grateful to the Ibarra family, but he is not hopeful
that he’ll make headway in getting any lasting educational reforms to happen.

Don Filipo (Filipo Lino)

Don Filipo Lino is a representative of the younger, less religiously shackled generation of
movers and shakers in San Diego, and he also serves as the vice mayor of the town. He despises the
idea of spending lavish amounts of money on the numerous feast days that mark the religious
calendar, seeing it as both wasteful and burdensome to the citizens. His words, however, fall on deaf
ears as he is only deputy mayor, and the mayor himself is a dedicated follower of the Catholic church
and the de facto mouthpiece of the friars.

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, she is allied only with her sons.
She wanders the town, clothes tattered and hair disheveled, calling out for her sons. When she
actually does meet Basilio, she cannot recognize him.
Father Sibyla
A priest serving in the Binondo district in the city of Manila, Father Sibyla serves as a foil to the
otherwise largely corrupt Father Dámaso and the perverse Father Salví as he is rational and calm.
Father Sibyla is an adept and shrewd orator who takes obvious delight in antagonizing the pompous
Father Damaso at Ibarra’s return party.

OVERVIEW

Noli Me Tángere (1887)—which translates to “Touch Me Not” in Latin—is a novel written by

Filipino writer José Rizal. The novel tells the story of Don Crisóstomo Ibarra, a young man of
Filipino and Spanish descent who returns to the Philippines after a seven-year trip to Europe. Upon
his return, and because he is now old enough to better understand the world, Ibarra sees the
oppression wrought on the Indigenous population by Spanish colonialism. As Ibarra attempts to do
something about this, he finds himself confronting forces that view him as a direct threat to their
power—and who will do whatever it takes to retain it.

Noli Me Tángere is predominantly narrated in the third person, with occasional shifts to first-
person plural. The narrative follows a generally linear plot with occasional shifts that provide
historical context. It also tends toward the satirical, especially when the narrator describes
members of the wealthy ruling class. At times, the novel depicts the brutality of oppression
realistically, hence it is sometimes graphic.

Noli Me Tangere Summary of the Entire Novel

After seven years of education in Europe, Juan Crisostomo Ibarra returned to the Philippines.
Because of this, Captain Tiago hosted a feast and invited a number of notable individuals to their
home.
Father Damaso criticized Ibarra at the banquet, but instead of attacking him, Ibarra gently
excused himself claiming he had important matters to attend to.
Ibarra has a gorgeous girlfriend, Maria Clara, who is the daughter of Captain Tiago. Ibarra
paid the girl a visit the day following the feast.
Maria Clara reread their old letters from before Ibarra studied in Europe as they recalled their
love.
On the way before Ibarra went home, Lieutenant Guevarra revealed what had happened to
the young man’s father, Don Rafael Ibarra, who had passed away a year ago.
Father Damaso, according to the Lieutenant, accused Don Rafael of being a Heretic and a
Pilibuster since he reportedly did not attend church or confession. All of this transpired after Don
Rafael defended a child against a kubrador who fatally struck his skull by accident.
Due to this occurrence, an investigation was conducted while Don Rafael was in jail. Some of
Don Rafael’s secret opponents also came forward with accusations against him.
These incidents had a profound effect on his father, causing him to fall ill in prison, which
ultimately led to his passing.
Father Damaso was unsatisfied and ordered the exhumation and relocation of Don Rafael’s
remains to the cemetery of the Chinese. Due to the heavy rain at the time, the body was tossed into
the lake rather than being relocated.
 Instead of seeking vengeance, Ibarra continued his father’s work. He constructed a school
with Nol Juan’s assistance.
When the school was about to be blessed, Ibarra would have been slain if Elias hadn’t saved
him.
Instead of Ibarra, the young man’s secret enemy’s payee was the one who perished.
Father Damaso alludes to the young man again. Ibarra would have ignored it but when his
father was insulted by Father Damaso, he could not stop and tried to stab the priest. Maria Clara, his
lover, merely stopped him.
The Archbishop excommunicated Ibarra from the Catholic Church due to this occurrence.
Father Damaso took advantage of the situation and commanded Maria Clara’s father not to marry her
off to Ibarra. Instead, the young woman is rumored to be marrying Linares, a young Spaniard.
Ibarra was readmitted to the church after his excommunication was lifted with the assistance
of the Captain General.
However, he was unexpectedly arrested and imprisoned once more since he was accused of
leading the attack on the barracks.
While the party was being held at Captain Tiago’s house for the marriage agreement between
Linares and Maria Clara, Ibarra escaped with the help of his friend Elias.
Before fleeing, Ibarra and Maria had a chance to talk in secret. He rebuked the girl for the
letter that was used against him in court, but Maria denied it vehemently.
He said that the young man’s letter was stolen from him in exchange for his mother’s letter
saying that Father Damaso was his real father.
The girl added, she said that she is marrying Linares for the honor of her mother. But his love
for Ibarra will never change.
After that, Ibarra fled with the assistance of Elias. They boarded a boat and traveled along the
Pasig River till they reached Bay Lake. Elias instructed Ibarra to recline and then covered him with
grass.
But the pursuer caught up with them. Elias thought to mislead the pursuers. After that, he
jumped into the water and those chasing them thought that the one who jumped was Ibarra. Elias
was shot until the water turned to blood.
Maria Clara learned of the alleged death of Ibarra. She was depressed and hopeless, so she
pleaded with Father Damaso to allow her to enter the monastery; else, she would end her life.
Elias tracked the legendary forest of the Ibarra’s. Here he saw Basilio and his lifeless mother,
Sisa. It was Noche Buena while Elias was wounded and weak.
Before he breathed his last, he said that if he doesn’t see the dawn in his own country, to the
lucky ones, don’t completely forget those who lost their lives in the darkness of the night.