CHAPTER 19

EL FILIBUSTERISMO PUBLISHED IN GHENT(1891)

CONTINUATION . . . . . . . .

PREPARED BY ALVIN BUGAOISAN BSMT 3

The Manuscript

• The original manuscript of El Filibusterismo in Rizal’s own

handwriting is now preserved in the Filipiniana Division of the

Bureau of Public Libraries, Manila. It had been acquired by the

Philippine Government from Valentin Ventura for 10,000 pesos.

It consists of 279 pages of long sheets of paper.

• The title page of El Fili contains an inscription written by

Ferdinand Blumentritt

• Features that didn’t appear in the printed book:to save printing

cost

– Foreword

– Warning

The Manuscript

Synopsis of the El Filibusterismo: Characters

• Simoun – the main protagonist of the story a rich jeweler.

• Dona Victorina – ridiculously a pro-spanish woman

• Tiburcio de Espadana – husband of Dona Victorina

• Paulita Gomez – beautiful niece of Don Tiburcio

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

• Padre Sibyla – Vice-Rector of UST

• Padre Camorra – spanish priest of Tiani

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

• Padre Salvi – Franciscan friar a former cura of San Diego

• Padre Irene – a kind friar who was a friend to Filipino students

• Padre Florentino – a retired scholarly and patriotic Filipino priest

• Isagani – nephew of Padre Florentino and lover of Paulita

• Basilio – son of Sisa a promising medical student

• Capitan Tiago – patron of Basilio

• Quiroga – rich Chinese merchant

• Cabesang Tales – father of Juli dispossessed of his land in Tiani by friars

• Juli – the lover of Basilio

• Makaraig – rich and leader of Filipino students in their movement to learn Spanish in the academy

• Padre Millon – teaches Physics in UST w/o experiments

• Placido Penitente – student of Padre Millon who bacame disoriented bcause of the poor methods of instruction

• Senor Pasta – old Filipino lawyer who refuses to help Filipino students in their advocacy

• Tandang Selo – grandfather of Juli

• Mr. American – owner of the sideshow at the fair of Quiapo exhibiting an Egyptian Mummy.

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

• Cabesa Andang – mother of Placido Penitente

• Pepay – pretty dancer and mistress of Don Custodio

• Padre Fernandez – a good dominican friar and friend of Isagani

• Don Timoteo – father of Juanito Pelaez

• Tano – son Cabesang Tales and brother of Juli

• Chichay – the silversmith who made the bridal earring for Paulita Gomez

• Characters from El Filibusterismo were draw by Rizal from real life

– Padre Florentino was Father Leoncio Lopez

– Isagani ws Vicente Ilustre

– Paulita Gomez was Leonor Rivera

1. To defend Filipino people from foreign

accusations of foolishness and lack of

knowledge.

2. To show how the Filipino people live during

Spanish colonial period and the cries and

woes of his countrymen against abusive

officials.

3. To discuss what religion and belief can

really do to everyday lives.

4. To expose the cruelties, graft and corruption

of the false government and honestly show

the wrong doings of Filipinos that led to

further failure.

The book narrates the return of the

protagonist of Noli Me Tangere, Crisostomo Ibarra,

under the disguise of a wealthy jeweler named

Simoun. Disillusioned by the abuses of the

Spanish, Ibarra abandons his pacifist beliefs in

order to return to the Philippines and start a violent

revolution.

Noli Me Tangere’s Basilio, now a young man

and a skilled medical student, is recruited by Ibarra

to aid him in detoning a bomb at a social

gathering, signaling the beginning of the

revolution.

However, Basilio warns his friend Isagani.

Realizing that the woman he loves is in the

building, Isagani throws the bomb into the river,

averting the explosion and the revolution.

Implicated in these matters, Simoun commits

suicide by taking poison and finds resting place at

the home of a priest, Father Florentino, who hears

his last confession and assures him that not all

hope is lost.

The priest (Father Florentino), upon

Simoun’s death, commends the jewels into the

sea, remarking that the jewels once used to bribe

and corrupt people, would one day be hopefully

found to be used for a meaningful purpose.

Noli and Fili Compared

• 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

• Bothe are responsible in paving the ground for Philippine Revolution that

brought about the downfall of Spain

• El Fili is a true twin of Noli

THE UNFINISHED 3RD NOVEL

• September 22, 1891 Rizal wrote to Blumetritt saying that he’s thinking of

writing a third novel where ethics will play principal role

• October 18, 1891 boarded the steamer Melbourne in Marseilles bound for

Hong Kong

• During the voyage he wrote the third novel in Tagalog in 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 3rd novel has no title

• It consists of 44 pages in Rizal’s handwriting

• The manuscript is still preserved in the Bureau of Public Libraries

• 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 of 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

- consist 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 if 34 pages

• The beginning of another novel are contained in two notebooks. The first

notebook contains 31 written pages while the second contains 12 pages

- written in Spanish and the style is ironic

THANK YOU!!!

• Prepared by Alvin Bugaoisan Bsmt-3