CHAPTER 19:EL FILIPUSTERISMO

PUBLISHED IN

GHENT

DANN ZEUS HERRERA

BSCS-II

October, 1887 – He begun writing it in Calamba.

1888 (London) - He made some changes in the plot and revised the chapter already written.

-- He wrote more chapters in Paris, Madrid and Biarritz.

March 29, 1891 – He finished the manuscript in Biarritz.

Privations in Ghent

July 5, 1891 – Rizal left Brussels for Ghent.

Reasons: The cost of living was lower The price of printing was much cheaper

than in Brussels To escape from the enticing attraction of

Petite Suzanne

Owing to his limited funds, Rizal lived in a cheap boarding house, with Jose Alejandro as room mate.

They lived frugally in Ghent for three months – from July to September, 1891.

To economize further on their living expenses, they prepared their own breakfast.

The Printing of “El Filibusterismo” Rizal searched for a printing shop that

could give him the lowest quotation for the publication of his novel.

At last, he did find a publisher – F. MEYER-VAN LOO PRESS, No. 66 Viaanderen Street – who was willing to print his book on installment basis.

He pawned his jewels in order to pay the down payment and early partial payments during the printing of the novel.

Rizal became desperate because his funds were running low.

He received some money from Basa and P200 from Rodriguez Arias for the copies of Morga’s Sucesos sold in Manila but these funds were also used up.

July 1891 – Rizal wrote a letter to Basa saying that if no money comes he have to stop the El Fili’s publication.

August 6 – The printing had to be suspended, as Rizal feared, because he could no longer give the necessary funds to the printer.

“ El Filibusterismo” Comes Off the Press In his morbid moments of despair, Rizal

almost burned the manuscript of El Filibusterismo.

When everything seemed lost, help came from an unexpected source. Valentin Ventura heard of Rizal’s predicament and immediately sent the amount needed to finish the publication of the novel.

September 18, 1891 – El Fili came off to press.

Rizal immediately send 2 copies to Hongkong – one for Basa and the other for Sixto Lopez

He gratefully gave the original manuscript of El Filibusterismo and a printed copy with his autograph to Valentin Ventura.

Filipino patriots praised the novel. The members of the Filipino colony of Barcelona published a tribute in La Publicidad , a Barcelona newspaper, eulogizing the novel’s original style.

The liberal Madrid newspaper, El Nuevo Regimen , serialized the novel in its issues of October, 1891.

All copies of the first edition (Ghent edition) of El Filibusterismo were placed in wooden boxes and shipped to Hong Kong, but almost all the boxes were confiscated and the books were lost.

The book immediately became rare and the few available Ghent copies were sold at very high prices, reaching as high as 400 pesetas per copy.

Rizal, in all his studies, travels and labors in foreign lands, had not forgotten the martyrdom of Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora, which Paciano related to him when he was a mere lad in Calamba. He dedicated El Fili to them.

The Manuscript and the Book - The original manuscript of El Fili in

Rizal’s own handwriting is now preserved in the Filipiniana Division of the Bureau of Public Libraries, Manila.

- Acquired from Valentin Ventura for P10,000.

- Consisting of 279 pages of long sheets of paper.

2 features that didn’t appear in the printed book

- Foreword - Warning

These two were not put into print, evidently, to save printing cost.

- FOREWORD – appears just before the dedicatory page in the manuscript. It is for the Filipino People and the Government.

- WARNING – found on the other side of the dedication.

The title page of El Filibusterismo contains an inscription written by Ferdinand Blumentritt.

Synopsis of El Filibusterismo

This novel is a sequel on Noli Me Tangere.

-less humor -less idealism -less romance -more revolutionary -more tragic

Characters of El Filibusterismo

Simoun – rich jeweler(Chrisostomo Ibarra)

Doña Victorina – ridiculously pro-Spanish native woman

Tiburcio de Espadaña – husband of Doña Victorina

Paulita Gomez – beautiful niece of Doña Victorina

Ben-Zayb – Spanish journalist, who writes silly articles about Filipinos

Padre Sibyla – Vice-Rector of the University of Santo Tomas

Padre Camorra – Parish priest of the town of Tiani

Don Custodio – a pro-Spanish Filipino holding a high position in the government

Padre Salvi – thin Franciscan friar and former cura of San Diego

Padre Irene – a kind friar who was a friend of the Filipino students

Padre Florentino – a retired scholarly and patriotic Filipino priest

Isagani – a poet nephew of Padre Florentino and a lover of Paulita Gomez

Basilio – son of Sisa and promising medical student

Capitan Tiago – patron of Basilio

Quiroga – rich Chinese merchant

Cabesang Tales – Father of Juli who is dispossessed of his land in Tiani by the friars

Juli – sweetheart of basilio

Makaraig – a rich student and leader of the Filipino students in their movement to have an academy where they could learn Spanish

Padre Millon – who teaches Physics in UST without scientific experiments

Placido Penitente – student of Padre Millon who becomes discontented with the poor method of instruction in the university

Señor Pasta – old Filipino lawyer who refuses to help the Filipino students in their petition to the government for educational reforms

Tandang Selo – grandfather of Juli

Mr. American – who owned the sideshow at the feria of Quiapo exhibiting an Egyptian mummy.

Sandoval – a Spanish student who supports the cause of the Filipino students to propagate the teaching of Spanish

Cabesana Andang – the mother of Placido Penitente

Pepay – the pretty dancer and mistress of Don Custodio

Padre Fernandez – a good Dominican friar and friend of Isagani

Don Timoteo – the father of Juanito Pelaez

Tano – son of Cabesang Tales and brother of Juli

Chichay – the silversmith who made the bridal earrings for Paulita Gomez

Characters from El Filibusterismo were drawn by Rizal from real life

- Padre Florentino – was Father Leoncio Lopez

- Isagani – was Vicente Ilustre

- Paulita Gomez – was Leonor Rivera

“Noli Me Tangere” & “El Filibusterismo” compared

Noli Me Tangere El Filibusterismo

romantic novel work of the heart A book of feeling It has freshness,

color, humor, lightness, and wit

64 chapters

political novel work of the head A book of thought it contains bitterness,

hatred, pain, violence, and sorrow

38 chapters

The issue of which is the superior novel – Noli or the Fili – is purely academic.

Both are good novels from the point of view of history

Both depict with realistic colors the actual conditions of the Philippines and the Filipinos during the decadent days of Spanish rule

Both are instrumental in awakening the spirit of Filipino nationalism

Both are responsible in paving the ground for the Phil. Revolution that brought about the downfall of Spain

El Filibusterismo is a true twin of Noli Me Tangere

Rizal’s Unfinished 3 rd Novel September 22, 1891 – four days after

the Fili came off the press, he wrote to Blumentritt saying that he’s thinking of writing a third novel where ethics will play the principal role

October 18, 1891 – Rizal boarded the steamer Melbourne in Marseilles bound for Hong Kong.

During the voyage he wrote the 3 rd novel in Tagalog which he intended for Tagalog readers.

In Hong Kong he continued it, but did not finish it because his Tagalog was inadequate for literary purposes.

The unfinished 3 rd novel has no title.

It consists of 44 pages in Rizal’s handwriting

The manuscript is still preserved in the Bureau of Public Libraries (formerly National Library)

The hero of the novel was Kamandagan, a descendant of Lakan-Dula, last king of Tondo. He plotted to regain the lost freedom of his fathers.

It is said that Rizal was fortunate not to finish this novel, because it would have caused greater scandal and more Spanish vengeance on him.

Other Unfinished Novels

Makamisa – a tagalog novel

- written in light sarcastic style - incomplete with only 2 chapters - consists of only 20 pages

Dapitan – written in Ironic Spanish

- he wrote it while in Dapitan to depict the town life and customs

- consists of 8 pages

A novel in Spanish about the life in Pili, a town in Laguna.

- consists of 147 pages - without title

Another unfinished novel of Rizal, also without title, is about Cristobal, a youthful Filipino student who has returned from Europe.

- consists of 34 pages

The beginnings of another novel are contained in two notebooks – the first notebook contains 31 written pages while the second contains 12 written pages

- written in Spanish and the style is ironic