Rizal's Life

• All the alluring beauties of foreign countries and all the beautiful memories of his sojourn in foreign land could neither make Rizal forget his fatherland nor turn his back to his own nationality
• Rizal studied abroad, acquired the lore languages of foreign nations, and enjoyed the friendship of many great men
• Rizal remained at heart a true Filipino with unquenchable love for the Philippines
• Rizal's utmost reasons for coming home

  • To operate on his mother's eyes
  • To serve his people who had long been oppressed by Spanish tyrants
  • To find out for himself how Noli and his other writings were affecting Filipinos and Spaniards in the Philippines
  • To inquire why Leonor Rivera remained silent
• Despite the warning by Paciano (his brother), Silvestre Ubaldo (his brother-in-law), Chengoy (Jose M. Cecilio) and other friends not to return home, Rizal wrote to his father, announcing his homecoming
• After five years in Europe, Rizal returned to the Philippines in August of 1887 and practice medicine in Calamba
• Rizal's reasons for choosing London as his new home


  • To improve his knowledge of the English language
  • To study and annotate Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas
  • London was a safe place for him to carry on his fight against Spanish tyranny
• In London, Rizal engaged in Filipiniana studies, completed annotating Morga's book, wrote many articles for La Solidaridad in defense of his people against Spanish critics, penned a famous letter to the young women of Malolos, carried on his voluminous correspondence with Blumentritt and relatives, and had a romance with Gertrude Beckett
• After London, Rizal proceeded to Paris in the spring of 1889 during the Universal Exposition
• In Paris, despite the social parties and the glittering lights of the city, Rizal continued his fruitful artistic literary, and patriotic labors
• Rizal's activities in Paris

  • Published his annotated edition of Morga's Sucesos
  • Founded three Filipino societies, the Kidlat Club, the Indios Bravos, and the RDLM
  • Wrote Por Telefono, a satire against Fr. Salvador Font
• Juan Crisostomo Ibarra of Noli Me Tangere had changed his name and identity to a rich jeweler named Simoun
• Simoun's real motive is personal - he wants to rescue his beloved, Maria Clara, from the convent and avenge the death of his father
• In a forest on Christmas Eve, Basilio, a medical student recognizes Simoun's true identity as the man who helped bury his mother Sisa more than ten years before, under a tree
• Simoun is in the forest to retrieve the gems he buried near Sisa's grave
• As the film progresses, all the secrets and intrigues are revealed, and the plotters' plan fails
• A good Filipino priest throws Simoun's jewels away, thereby eliminating the greed, violence and other evils they might have provoked
• Simoun


  A friend of Spain outwardly, but secretly plotting a terrible revenge against the Spanish authorities. His two obsessions are to rescue his paramour Maria Clara from the nunnery of Santa Clara and to foment a Philippine revolution against Spain.
• The story of El Filibusterismo begins

  1. On board a steamer ship sailing up the Pasig River from Manila to Laguna de Bay

  2. Among the passengers are Simoun, Doña Victorina, Paulita Gomez, Ben-Zayb, Padre Sibyla, Padre Camorra, Don Custodio, Padre Salvi, Padre Irene, Padre Florentino, Isagani, and Basilio
• Simoun


  • A man of wealth and mystery, very close friend and confidante of the Spanish governor general, called the "Brown Cardinal" or the "Black Eminence"
  • Uses his wealth and political influence to encourage corruption in the government, promote the oppression of the masses, and hasten the moral degradation of the country so that the people may become desperate and fight
  • Smuggles arms into the country with the help of a rich Chinese merchant, Quiroga, who aspires to be Chinese consul of Manila
• Simoun's first attempt to begin the armed uprising


  1. Did not materialize because at the last hour he hears the sad news that Maria Clara died in the nunnery

  2. In his agonizing moment of bereavement, he did not give the signal for the outbreak of hostilities
• Simoun's plan to overthrow the government

  1. On the occasion of the wedding of Paulita Gomez and Juanito Pelaez, he gives them a beautiful lamp as a wedding gift

  2. Only he and his confidential associates, Basilio, know that when the wick of the lamp burns lower the nitroglycerine, hidden in its secret compartment, will explode, destroying the house where the wedding feast is going to be held killing all the guests, including the governor general, the friars, and the government officials

  3. Simultaneously, all the government buildings in Manila will be blown by Simoun's followers
• Isagani is standing outside the house


  Sorrowfully watching the merriment inside, as he has been rejected by Paulita because of his liberal ideas
• Basilio warns Isagani


  To go away because the lightened lamp will soon explode
• He grew up with his parents Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso Realonda.
• Rizal was born on June 19, 1861.
• "I am not afraid to die, but I do fear that my death will be useless." - Jose Rizal
• His father was an ilustrado (educated Filipino) from Cavite El Viejo, while his mother came from a prominent family in Calamba, Laguna.