/ Don't

(Touch me Not
touch me)
JOSE P. RIZAL
 The TITLE

The title,
inLatinmeaningTouch me not,
refers to John 20:17 in
theBible(King James Version)
asMary Magdalenetried to
touch the newly risenJesus,
He said "Touch me not; for I am
not yet ascended to my
References for the
novel

JOSE RIZAL preferred that
the prospective novel
expresses the backward,
anti-progress and anti-
intellectual way Filipino
culture was.
 References for the
novel

On JUNE 2, 1884, Rizal
proposed the writing of
a novel about the
Philippines written by a
group of Filipinos.
 References for the
novel

His proposal was unanimously
approved by the Filipinos
present at the party, among
whom
werePedro,MaximinoandAnt
onio Paterno,Graciano Lpez
Jaena,Evaristo
Aguirre,Eduardo de Lete,Julio
 PUBLICATION
Rizal

finished the novel in
December 1886.
Rizal feared the novel might not
be printed, and that it would
remain unread.
A financial aid came from a friend
named Mximo Viola which helped
him print his book at a fine print
media in Berlin named Berliner
 Major CHARACTERS

Crisostomo Ibarra
Son of a Filipino
businessman, Don Rafael
Ibarra, he studied in
Europe for seven
years.Ibarra is also Mara
Clara's fianc. Several
sources claim that Ibarra
is also Rizal's reflection.
 Mara Clara

Ibarra's fiance. She
was raised by Capitn
Tiago and is the most
beautiful and widely
celebrated girl in San
Diego.
an illegitimate daughter
of Father Dmaso.
Capitan Tiago

Santiago de los Santos, known
by his nicknameTiagoand
political titleCapitnTiagois a
Filipino businessman and
thecabeza de barangayor
head of barangayof the town
of San Diego. He is also the
known father ofMara Clara.
 Padre Dmaso

Dmaso Verdolagas, or
Padre Dmaso is
aFranciscanfriar 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
 Elias

Elasis Ibarra's
mysterious friend and
ally. He wants to
revolutionize the country
and to be freed from
Spanish oppression.
 Pilosopong Tacio

DON ANASTASIO: 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
Doa Victorina

Doa Victorina de los
Reyes de Espadaa, is an
ambitious Filipina who
classifies herself as a Spanish
and mimics Spanish ladies by
putting on heavymake-up.
Sisa, Crispn, and
Basilio
NarcisaorSisais the
deranged mother of Basilio
and Crispn. Described as
beautiful and young, although
she loves her children very
much, she can not protect
them from the beatings of her
 Crispnis Sisa's 7-year-old
son. An altar boy, he was
unjustly accused of stealing
money from the church.
After failing to force Crispn
to return the money he
allegedly stole, Father Salv
and the head sacristan killed
him. It is not directly stated
that he was killed, but the
dream of Basilio suggests
 Basiliois Sisa's 10-year-old son.
An acolyte tasked to ring the
church bells forthe Angelus, he
faced the dread of losing his
younger brother and the descent
of his mother into insanity. At the
end of the novel, Elas 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 inEl
 PLOT

Having completed his
studies in Europe, Juan
Crisstomo Ibarra y
Magsalin comes back to
the Philippines after a 7-
year absence.
 PLOT

In his honor, Don Santiago
delos Santos "Captain
Tiago" a family friend, threw
a get-together party, which
was attended by friars and
other prominent figures.
 PLOT

One of the guests, former
San Diego curate Fray
Dmaso Vardolagas
belittled and slandered
Ibarra.
 PLOT

The next day, Ibarra
visits Mara Clara, his
love, the beautiful
daughter of Captain
Tiago and affluent
resident ofBinondo.
 PLOT

Their long-standing love
was clearly manifested in
this meeting, and Mara
Clara cannot help but
reread the letters her
sweetheart had written her
before he went to Europe.
 PLOT

Before Ibarra left for San
Diego, Lieutenant Guevara,
aCivil Guard, reveals to him
the incidents preceding the
death of his father, Don
Rafael Ibarra, a
richhacenderoof the town.
 PLOT

According to Guevara, Don
Rafael was unjustly accused
of being a heretic, in
addition to being a
subversive an allegation
brought forth by Dmaso
because of Don Rafael's non-
participation in the
 PLOT

Dmaso'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
 PLOT

Suddenly, all of those
who thought ill of him
surfaced with additional
complaints. He was
imprisoned, and just
when the matter was
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
During the inauguration
of the school, Ibarra
would have been killed in

a sabotage had Elas 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
After the inauguration,
Ibarra hosted a luncheon
during which Dmaso, 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 Dmaso, prepared
As a consequence,
Dmasoexcommunicated Ibarra,

taking this opportunity to
persuade the already-hesitant
Tiago to forbid his daughter from
marrying Ibarra. The friar wished
Mara Clara to marry Linares,
aPeninsularwho 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 theChurchonce again.
Meanwhile, in Capitan
Tiago's residence, a party
was being held to
announce the upcoming
wedding of Mara Clara and
Linares. Ibarra, with the
help of Elas, took this
opportunity to escape from
prison.
Before leaving, Ibarra spoke
to Mara Clara and accused
her of betraying him,

thinking that she gave the
letter he wrote her to the
jury. Mara 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
Mara Clara, thinking
that Ibarra had been

killed in the shooting
incident, was greatly
overcome with grief.
Robbed of hope and
severely disillusioned,
she asked Dmaso to
confine her into a
Dmaso 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 Elas who had
It was Christmas Eve
when Elas woke up in

the forest fatally
wounded, as it is here
where he instructed
Ibarra to meet him.
Instead, Elas found the
altar boy Basilio
cradling his already-
The latter lost her mind
when she learned
that
her two sons, Crispn
and Basilio, were chased
out of the convent by the
sacristan mayor on
suspicions of stealing
sacred objects.
Elas, 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
 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

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

Elas died
thereafter.
 EPILOGUE

Tiago became addicted
to opium and was seen
to frequent the opium
house in Binondo to
satiate his addiction.
 EPILOGUE

Mara Clara became a
nun where Salv, who
has lusted after her
from the beginning of
the novel, regularly
used her to fulfill his
 EPILOGUE

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
 EPILOGUE

While the woman
was never
identified, it is
insinuated that the
said woman was
Maria Clara.
 EL
FILIBUSTERISMO

Thirteen years after leaving the
Philippines, Crisostomo Ibarra
returns as Simoun, a rich jeweler
sporting a beard and blue-tinted
glasses, and a confidant of the
Captain-General. Abandoning his
idealism, he becomes a cynical
saboteur, seeking revenge against
the Spanish Philippine system
responsible for his misfortunes by
Simoun insinuates himself
into Manilahigh society
and influences every
decision of the Captain-
General to mismanage the
countrys affairs so that a
revolution will break out.
He cynically sides with
the upper classes,

encouraging them to
commit abuses
against the masses to
encourage the latter
to revolt against the
oppressive Spanish
This time, he does not attempt
to fight the authorities

through legal means, but
through violent revolution
using the masses. Simoun has
reasons for instigating a
revolution. First is to rescue
Mara Clara from the convent
and second, to get rid of ills
and evils of Philippine society.
His true identity is
discovered by a now

grown-up Basilio while
visiting the grave of his
mother, Sisa, as Simoun
was digging near the
grave site for his buried
treasures.
Simoun spares Basilios
life and asks him to join in

his planned revolution
against the government,
egging him on by bringing
up the tragic misfortunes
of the latter's family.
Basilio declines the offer
as he still hopes that the
countrys condition will
Basilio, at this point, is a
graduating student of

medicine at theAteneo
Municipal de Manila. After
the death of his mother,
Sisa, and the
disappearance of his
younger brother, Crispn,
Basilio heeded the advice
of the dying boatman,
Basilio was adopted by
Captain Tiago after Mara
Clara enteredthe convent.
With Captain Tiagos help,
Basilio was able to go to
Colegio de San Juan de
Letrnwhere, at first, he is
frowned upon by his peers
and teachers not only
because of the color of his
Captain Tiagos confessor,
Father Irene is making
Captain Tiagos health worse
by giving him opium even as
Basilio tries hard to prevent
Captain Tiago from smoking
it. He and other students
want to establish a Spanish
language academy so that
they can learn to speak and
write Spanish despite the
 With the help of a reluctant
Father Irene as their mediator
and Don Custodios decision, the

academy is established; however
they will only serve as caretakers
of the school not as the teachers.
Dejected and defeated, they hold
a mock celebration at a
pancitera while a spy for the
friars witnesses the proceedings
 Simoun, for his part, keeps
in close contact with the
bandit group of Kabesang
Tales, a former cabeza de
barangay who suffered
misfortunes at the hands of
the friars. Once a farmer
owning a prosperous
sugarcane plantation and a
cabeza de barangay
(barangay head), he was
From the characters;