The document provides character summaries for the novel Noli Me Tangere by José Rizal. It outlines 20 main characters from the novel, including Crisostomo Ibarra, María Clara, Capitan Tiago, Padre Dámaso, Elías, Sisa, and others. For each character, it provides a brief description of who they are, their role in the story, and what they symbolize. The character summaries convey key details about the plot and themes of Rizal's political novel, such as its examination of Spanish colonialism and Catholic Church domination in the Philippines.

1. NOLI ME
TANGERE
JoséProtacioRizal
Mercadoy Alonso
Realonda

2. Noli Me Tangere
On the cover, the cross represents the sufferings.
Pomelo blossoms and laurel leaves represents the
honor and fidelity. The silhouette of a Filipina
represents maria clara while the burning torch
stands for rage and passion. The sunflowers on the
other hand represents the enlightenment, bamboo
stalks that were cut down but grew back means
resilience and a man in a cassock with hairy feet
represents the priests using religion in a dirty way.
The chains stands for slavery while
represent
whips
cruelties
and the helmet of the guardia civil stands for
arrogance of those in authority.

3. Noli Me Tangere
At the top, all that is best in Philippine
life: woman, symbolizing constancy,
religious faith symbolized by the
tombstone, with a laurel (courage) and
the flower of the pomelo, worn by
bride and groom at a wedding and
symbolizing purity.

4. From Latin phrase took from the Bible,
meaning “Touch Me Not”
on December
Taken from John 20:17
Rizal finished the novel
1886.
It was eventually printed in Berlin,
Germany.
Noli Me Tangere

5. Colonialism, religion, and Power José
Rizal’s political novel Noli Me
Tangere examines how Spain’s
colonization
allowed the
of the Philippines
Catholic church to
dominate and rule the region.
Noli Me Tangere

6. A mis P(adres.) al escribir e(sta
obra he estado) pensando
continuamente e(n vosotros que
me) habeis infundido los (primeros
pensamientos) y las primeras
ideas; a (vosotros os dedi)co este
manuscrito de me (joventud com
p)rueba de amor.
Berlin, (21 de Febrero de) 1887.
Noli Me Tangere

7. To my Fathers when writing this
(this work I have been)
continually thinking about (you
who) have instilled the (first
thoughts) and the first ideas; I
dedicate to (you) this manuscript
of me (youth with) proof of love.
Berlin, (February 21, 1887).
Noli Me Tangere

8. • He is a son of a Filipino
businessman, Don Rafael Ibarra,
he studied in Europe for seven
years. Ibarra is also María Clara's
fiancé.
• He symbolizes the idealism of the
privileged youth
Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Juan Crisóstomo
Ibarra y
Magsalin)

9. • She was raised by Capitán Tiago, San
Diego's cabeza de barangay and is the most
beautiful and widely celebrated girl in San
Diego.
• She symbolizes the purity and innocence of
the sheltered native woman.
• She also portrayed as a faithful sweetheart, a
good friend and an obedient daughter.
• Related to Rizal’s childhood sweetheart,
Leonor Rivera
Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
María Clara (María Clara
de los Santos y
Alba)

10. • Filipino businessman and the cabeza de
barangay or head of barangay of the town of
San Diego
• He is also the known father of María Clara. He
is also said to be a good Catholic, friend of the
Spanish government and was considered as a
Spanish by colonialists.
• He symbolizes the rich Filipinos who oppress
their fellow country men
Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Capitán Tiago (Don
Santiago de los
Santos)

11. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Padre Dámaso (Dámaso
Verdolagas)
• A Franciscan friar and the former parish curate
of San Diego. 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.
• He is the real father of María Clara and an
enemy of Crisóstomo's father, Rafael Ibarra.
• He raped Doña Pia, Maria Clara’s mother.
• He symbolizes the Spanish friars of Rizal’s time.

12. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Elias
• Ibarra's mysterious friend and ally. Elías made
his first appearance as a pilot during a picnic of
Ibarra and María Clara and her friends. He wants
to revolutionize the country and to be freed from
Spanish oppression.
• He distrust human judgments and prefers God’s
judgment instead.
• He said to be the personification of Andres
Bonifacio.
• He represents the common Filipino.

13. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Filosofo
Tacio(Pilosopo
Tasyo) /Don
Anastacio
• Seeking for reforms from the government, he expresses
his ideals in paper written in a cryptographic alphabet
similar from hieroglyphs and Coptic figures hoping "that
the future generations may be able to decipher it" and
realized the abuse and oppression done by the
conquerors.
• The educated inhabitants of San Diego labeled him as
Filosofo Tacio (Tacio the Sage) while others called him
as Tacio el Loco (Insane Tacio) due to his exceptional
talent for reasoning.
• Rizal can relate to his older brother, Paciano Rizal
• He symbolizes the learned Filipino.

14. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
• The deranged mother of Basilio and Crispín.
• Described as beautiful and young, although she
loves her children very much, she can not
protect them from the beatings of her husband,
Pedro.
• Personified the suffering of the motherland.
Narcisa • Named after Rizal’s older sister, Narcisa.

15. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Crispi
n
• Sisa's 7-year-old son. An altar boy, he was
unjustly accused of stealing money from the
church.
• Sisa’s favorite son
• After failing to force Crispín to return the money
he allegedly stole, Father Salví and the head
sacristan killed him.

16. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Basili
o
• 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 falling of
his mother into insanity.
• Their family represented the innocent who were
wrongly accused of crime they did not commit.
• Their story was based on the true tale of
Crisostomo brother’s of Hagonoy.

17. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Padre Hernando de la
Sibyla
• A Dominican friar. He is described as short and
has fair skin. He is instructed by an old priest in
his order to watch Crisóstomo Ibarra.
• He is often cool and intelligent, especially when
correcting the other friar, Padre Damaso, of the
latter's ostentatiousness.
• Symbolizes the liberal friar but would rather stay
in the background rather than incur the wrath of
other priests in power. He is aware of the
injustices done to the natives but would not do
anything to change it, as all he cares about is
getting his congregation in power.

18. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Padre Bernardo
Salví
• Franciscan curate of San Diego, secretly
harboring lust for María Clara.
• He is described to be very thin and sickly. It is
also hinted that his last name, "Salvi" is the
shorter form of "Salvi" meaning Salvation, or
"Salvi" is short for "Salvaje" meaning bad hinting
to the fact that he is willing to kill an innocent
child, Crispin, just to get his money back, though
there was not enough evidence that it was Crispin
who has stolen his 2 onzas.
• Manipulates people to get what he wants.

19. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
El Alférez or
Alperes
• Chief of the Guardia Civil. Mortal enemy of the
priests for power in San Diego and husband of
Doña Consolacion.
• Shares rivalry with priest, particularly Padre
Salvi and frequently has violent fights with his
wife.
the officials of the state who
had power struggles with Church
• Represents
frequently
officials.

20. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Doña
Consolacíon
• Wife of the Alférez, nicknamed as la musa de los
guardias civiles (The muse of the Civil Guards) or
la Alféreza, was a former laundrywoman who
passes herself as a Peninsular; best remembered
for her abusive treatment of Sisa.
• Pretends not to know Tagalog and often uses
Spanish words even if she does not know the
meaning of it.
• Symbolizes the Filipinos in our society who are
ashamed of their own race and nationality.

21. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Doña Victorina
(Doña Victorina de
los Reyes de
Espadaña)
• Wife of Don Tiburcio
• An ambitious Filipina who classifies herself as
a Spanish and mimics Spanish ladies by putting
on heavy make-up.
• She symbolizes those who have a distorted
view of their identity.

22. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Don Tiburcio
de
Espadaña
• Spanish Quack Doctor who is limp and
submissive to his wife, Doña Victorina.
• He is timid and rarely joins in a conversation.
• Represented the ignorant Spanish whose
foolishness the other Spaniards tolerated, often
resulting in disastrous consequences.

23. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Teniente
Guevara
• A close friend of Don Rafael Ibarra. He reveals to
Crisóstomo how Don Rafael Ibarra's death came about.
• Holding a deep respect for the man, he later made efforts to
protect Don Rafael's son Crisostomo after the latter came
home from Europe.
• A morally upright man of Spanish descent who holds both
Crisóstomo 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 Dámaso’s control. He informs Crisóstomo
Ibarra of the fate of his father and how Father Damaso was
involved in his death.

24. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Alfonso
Linares
• A distant nephew of Tiburcio de Espanada, the
would-be fiancé of María Clara. Although he
presented himself as a practitioner of law, it was
later revealed that he, just like Don Tiburcio, is a
fraud.
• He later died due to given medications of Don
Tiburcio.
• Meek and shy.
• Represented the young Spaniards who came to the
Philippines hoping for a better life than their
motherland

25. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Governor General
• Unnamed person in the novel, he is the most
powerful official in the Philippines. He has great
disdains against the friars and corrupt officials,
and sympathizes Ibarra.
• He occupies the second most powerful rank in
the colonial government, second only to the
king.
• Represents the typical Governor Generals of the
Philippines who would often distain the power
that friars had.

26. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Don Filipo Lino
• A representative of the younger, less religiously
shackled generation of movers and shakers in San
Diego and Vice Mayor of the town of San Diego, leader
of the liberals.
• 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.

27. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Padre Manuel
Martín
• He is the linguistic curate of a nearby town, who
says the sermon during San Diego's fiesta.

28. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Don Rafael Ibarra
• Father of Crisóstomo Ibarra. Though he is the
richest man in San Diego, he is also the most
virtuous and generous.
• 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.

29. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Dona Pía Alba
• Wife of Capitan Tiago and mother of María Clara.
She died giving birth to her. In reality, she was
raped by Dámaso so she could bear a child.
• A young, healthy and beautiful woman. Very
spiritual woman.
• By nature, a very merry woman but she became
melancholic when she became pregnant.
• She represents the women who had been abused by
the clergy and have been silenced by their shame.

30. THANK
YOU FOR
YOUR
ACTIVE
PARTICIPATI
ON