Noli Me Tangere

Major Characters
Crisostomo Ibarra – Son of a Filipino businessman, Don Rafael Ibarra, he studied in Europe for
seven years. Ibarra is also Maria Clara’s fiancé. Several sources claim that Ibarra is also Rizal’s
reflection.
Maria Clara – Ibarra’s fiancée. She was raised by Capitan Tiago and is the most beautiful girl in
San Diego. An illegitimate daughter of Father Damaso.
Padre Damaso - Damaso Verdolagas, or Padre Damaso is a Franciscan friar and the former
parish curate of San Diego. He is the best known as a notorious character that speaks with harsh
words and has been a cruel priest during his stay in the town.
Capitan Tiago - Santiago De los Santos, known by his nickname Tiago and political title
Capitan Tiago is a Filipino businessman and the cabeza de barangay or head of barangay of the
town of San Diego. He is also the known father of Maria Clara.
Elias – Elias is Ibarra’s mysterious friend and ally. He wants to revolutionize the country and to
be freed from Spanish oppression.
Pilosopong Tasyo - Don Anastacio, seeking for reforms from the government, he expresses his
ideals in paper written in a cryptographic alphabet “that the future generations may be able to
decipher it” and realized the abuse and oppression done by the conquerors.
Dona Victorina – Dona Victorina de los Reyes de Espadana, is an ambitious Filipina who
classifies herself as Spanish and mimics Spanish ladies by putting on heavy make – up.
Sisa – Narcisa or Sisa is the deranged mother of Basilio and Crispin. Described as beautiful and
young, although she loves her children very much she cannot protect them from the beatings of
her husband, Pedro.
Basilio – is Sisa’s 10-year-old son. An acolyte tasked to ring the church bells for the Angelus, he
faced the dread of losing his younger brother and the descent of his mother into insanity. At the
end of the novel, Elias wished Basilio to bury him by burning in exchange of chest of gold
located on his death ground. He will later play a major role in El Filibusterismo.
Crispin – is Sisa’s 7-year-old son. An altar boy, he was unjustly accused of stealing money from
the church. After failing to force Crispin to return the money he allegedly stole, Father Salvi and
the head sacristan killed him. It is not directly stated that he was killed, but the dream of Basilio
suggests that Crispin died during his encounter with Padre Salvi and his minion.

Plot
Having completed his studies in Europe, Juan Crisostomo Ibarra y Magsalin comes back to the
Philippines after a 7-year absence. In his honor, Don Santiago Delos Santos “Capitan Tiago” a
family friend, threw a get together party, which was attended by friars and other prominent
figures. One of the guests, former San Diego curate Fray Damaso Vardolagas belittled and
slandered Ibarra. The next day, Ibarra visits Maria Clara, his love, the beautiful daughter of
Captain Tiago and affluent resident of Binondo. Their long-standing love was clearly manifested
in this meeting, and Maria Clara cannot help but reread the letters her sweetheart had written her
before he went to Europe. Before Ibarra left for San Diego, Lieutenant Guevara, a Civil Guard,
reveals to him the incidents preceding the death of his father, Don Rafael Ibarra, a rich hacendero
of the town. According to Guevara, Don Rafael was unjustly accused of being heretic, in
allegation brought forth by Damaso because of Don Rafael’s non-participation in the
Sacraments, such as Confession and Mass. Damaso’s animosity against Ibarra’s father is
aggravated by another incident when Don Rafael helped out on a fight between a tax collector
and a child fighting, and the former’s death was blamed on him, although it was not on purpose.
Suddenly, all of those who thought ill of him surfaced with additional complaints. He was
imprisoned, and just when the matter was almost settled, he died of sickness in jail. Revenge was
not in Ibarra’s plans, instead he carried through his father’s plan of putting up a school, since he
believed that education would pave the way to his country’s progress (all over the novel the
author refers to both Spain and the Philippines as two different countries as part of a same nation
or family, with Spain seen as the mother and the Philippines as the daughter). During the
inauguration of the school., Ibarra would have been killed in a sabotage had Elias – a mysterious
man who had warned Ibarra earlier of a plot to assassinate him – not saved him. Instead the hired
killer met an unfortunate incident and died. After the inauguration, Ibarra hosted a luncheon
during which Damaso, gate-crashing the luncheon, again insulted him. Ibarra ignored the priest’s
insolence, but when the latter slandered the memory of his dead father, he was no longer able to
restrain himself and lunged at Damaso, prepared to stab him for his impudence. As a
consequence, Damaso excommunicated Ibarra, taking this opportunity to persuade the already-
hesitant Tiago to forbid his daughter from marrying Ibarra. Marry Linares, a Peninsular who had
just arrived from Spain. With the help of the Governor-General, Ibarra’s excommunication was
nullified and the Archbishop decided to accept him as a member of the Church once again.
Meanwhile, in Capitan Tiago’s residence, a party was being held to announce the upcoming
wedding of Maria Clara and Linares. Ibarra, with the help o Elias, took this opportunity to escape
from prison. Before leaving, Ibarra spoke to Maria Clara and accused her to the jury. Maria Clara
explained that she would never conspire against him, but that she was forced to surrender
Ibarra’s letter to Father Salvi, in exchange for the letters written by her mother even before she,
Maria Clara, was born. Maria Clara thinking that Ibarra had been killed in the shooting incident
was greatly overcome with grief. Robbed of hope and severely disillusioned, she asked Damaso
to confine her into a nunnery. Damaso reluctantly agreed when she threatened to take her own
life, demanding, “The nunnery or death!” Unbeknownst to her, Ibarra was still alive and able to
escape. It was Elias who had taken the shots. It was Christmas Eve when Elias woke up in the
forest fatally wounded, as it is here where he instructed Ibarra to meet him. Instead, Elias found
the altar boy Basilio cradling his already- dead mother, Sisa. The latter lost her mind when she
learned that her two sons, Crispin and Basilio, were chased out of the convent by the sacristan
mayor on suspicions of stealing sacred objects. Elias, convinced that he would die soon, instructs
Basilio to build a funeral pyre and burn his and Sisa’s bodies to ashes. He tells Basilio that, If
nobody reaches the place, he come back later on and dig for he will find gold. He also tells him
(Basilio) to take the gold he finds and go to school. In his dying breath, he instructed Basilio to
continue dreaming about freedom for his motherland with the words: “I shall die without seeing
the dawn break upon my homeland. You, who shall see it, salute it! Do not forget those who have
fallen during the night” Elias died there after. Tiago became addicted to opium and was seen to
frequent the opium house in Binondo to satiate his addiction. Maria Clara became a nun where
Salvi, who has lusted after her from the novel, regularly used her to fulfill his lust. One stormy
evening, a beautiful crazy woman was seen at the top of the convent crying and cursing the
heavens for the fate it has handed her. While the woman was never identified, it is insinuated that
the said woman was Maria Clara.