The document provides character summaries for many of the main characters in José Rizal's novel Noli Me Tangere. It describes each character's role, background, and symbolism. Some of the major characters summarized include Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra, María Clara, Capitán Tiago, Padre Dámaso, Elías, Sisa and her sons Crispín and Basilio. The document also explains symbols and themes represented on the novel's cover.

1. NOLI ME
TANGERE
José Protacio Rizal Mercado y
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 whips represent 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”
Taken from John 20:17
Rizal finished the novel on December
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 of the Philippines
allowed the 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)
Narcisa
• 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.
• Named after Rizal’s older sister, Narcisa.

15. Cast of Characters (Noli Me tangere)
Crispin
• 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)
Basilio
• 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.
• Represents the officials of the state who
frequently had power struggles with Church
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 DonTiburcio
• 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, DoñaVictorina.
• 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 PARTICIPATION