El Filibusterismo is also known by its English alternate
title The Reign of Greed,
is the second novel written by Philippine national hero José Rizal. It is the sequel to Noli Me Tángere and, like the first book, was written
in Spanish.
It was first published in 1891 in Ghent, Belgium.
The
novel's dark theme departs dramatically from the previous novel's hopeful and
romantic atmosphere, signifying the character Ibarra's resort to solving his country's
issues through violent means, after his previous attempt at reforming the
country's system have made no effect and seemed impossible with the attitudes
of the Spaniards towards the Filipinos. The novel along with its predecessor
were banned in some parts of the Philippines as a result of their portrayals of
the Spanish government's abuse and corruption. These novels along with Rizal's
involvement in organizations that aim to address and reform the Spanish system
and its issues led to Rizal's exile to Dapitan and eventual execution. Both the novel and its predecessor,
along with Rizal's last poem,
are now considered Rizal's literary masterpieces.
The
sequel to Noli Me Tangere with its unarguably utopian vision,El filibusterismo
offers a much bleaker picture of the last decades of the nineteenth
century,Crisostomo Ibarra,the reformist hero of the earlier novel, has come to
the Philippines as the enigmatic stranger named Simoun, a rich jeweller .Driven
by hatred and a fierce desire to avenge his sufferings,and to rescue Maria
Clara from the runnery where she has fled,Simoun embarks on a crusade the goal
of which is to corrupt and thus weaken various institutions that would
eventually lead to a bloody revolution.He schemes and plans systematically and
plots with various characters including Basilio,to bring about the downfall of
the government.The first plot fails,as does the second one.Simoun carrying his
huge stash of jewelry,flees to the mountain retreat of Padre Florentino,who
absolves the dying man from his sins.The novel ends as the priest throws Simoun
treasures into the sea with the hope that they could be retrieved and used only
for the good of the people.
The Characters
·
Simoun - Crisostomo Ibarra in
disguise, left for dead at the end of Noli Me Tangere. Ibarra has
resurfaced as the wealthy jeweller, Simoun, sporting a beard, blue-tinted
glasses, and a revolver. Fueled by his mistreatment at the hands of the
Spaniards and his fury at Maria Clara's fate, Simoun secretly plans a
revolution to seek revenge against those who wronged him.
·
Basilio - Son of Sisa and another
character from Noli Me Tangere. He became a servant of Captain
Tiyago in exchange for education. In the events of the book, he is a graduating
medical student who befriended Simoun. His girlfriend is Juli.
·
Isagani - Basilio's friend and one of
the students who planned to set up a new school. He is very idealistic and
hopes for a better future for the Philippines. His girlfriend was the rich and
beautiful Paulita Gomez, but they broke up once he was arrested. Despite this,
his love for her still endured. He sabotaged Simoun's plans by removing the
lamp that contained explosives and threw it in the waters.
·
Kabesang Tales - Cabeza Telesforo Juan de
Dios, a former cabeza de barangay (barangay head) of Sagpang,
a barangay in San Diego's neighboring town Tiani, who resurfaced as the feared
Luzón bandit Matanglawin. He is the son of Tandang Selo, and father of Juli and
Tano.
·
Don Custodio - Custodio de Salazar y Sánchez
de Monteredondo, a famous "journalist" who was asked by the students
about his decision for the Academia de Castellano. In reality, he
is quite an ordinary fellow who married a rich woman in order to be a member of
Manila's high society.
·
Paulita Gómez - The girlfriend of Isagani and
the niece of Doña Victorina, the old Indio who passes herself
off as a Peninsular, who is the wife of the quack doctor Tiburcio
de Espadaña. In the end, she and Juanito Peláez are wed, and she dumps Isagani,
believing that she will have no future if she marries him.
·
Macaraig - One of Isagani's classmates
at the University of Santo Tomas. He is a rich student and serves as the leader
of the students yearning to build the Academia de Castellano.
·
Father Florentino - Isagani's godfather, and a
secular priest; was engaged to be married, but chose to be a priest after being
pressured by his mother, the story hinting at the ambivalence of his decision
as he chooses an assignment to a remote place, living in solitude near the sea.
He took in Don Tiburcio de Espandaña when he was hiding from his wife, Donya
Victorina.
·
Juli - Juliana de Dios, the
girlfriend of Basilio, and the youngest daughter of Kabesang Tales. To claim
her father from the bandits, she had to work as a maid under the supervision of
Hermana Penchang. Eventually, she was freed but committed suicide after Father
Camorra attempted to rape her.
·
Juanito Pelaez - A favorite student of the
professors. They belong to the noble Spanish ancestry. After failing in his
grades, he became Paulita's new boyfriend and they eventually wed.
·
Doña Victorina - Victorina delos Reyes de
Espadaña, known in Noli Me Tangere as Tiburcio de Espadaña's
cruel wife. She is the aunt of Paulita Gomez, and favors Juanito Pelaez over
Isagani. She is searching for her husband, who has left her and is in hiding.
Although of Indio heritage, she considers herself as one of the Peninsular.
·
Father Camorra - The lustful parish priest
of Tiani, San Diego's adjacent town who has longtime desires for young women.
He nearly raped Juli causing the latter to commit suicide.
·
Ben-Zayb - The pseudonym of Abraham
Ibañez, a journalist who believes he is the "only" one thinking in the
Philippines. Ben-Zayb is an anagram of Ybanez, an alternate spelling of his
name.
·
Placido Penitente - A student of the University
of Santo Tomas who was very intelligent and wise but did not want, if not only
by his mother's plea, to pursue his studies. He also controls his temper
against Padre Millon, his physics teacher. During his High School days, he was
an honor student hailing from Batangas.
·
Hermana Penchang - Sagpang's rich pusakal (gambler).
She offers Juli to be her maid so the latter can obtain money to free Kabesang
Tales. Disbelieving of Juli and her close friends, she considers herself as an
ally of the friars.
·
Tiburcio de Espadaña - Don
Tiburcio is Victorina de Espadaña's lame husband. He is currently in hiding at
Father Florentino's.
·
Father Írene - Captain Tiago's spiritual
adviser. Although reluctant, he helped the students to establish the Academia
de Castellano after being convinced by giving him a chestnut. The only witness
to Captain Tiago's death, he forged the last will and testament of the latter
so Basilio will obtain nothing from the inheritance.
·
Quiroga - A Chinese businessman who
dreamed of being a consul for his country in the Philippines. He hid Simoun's
weapons inside his house.
·
Don Timoteo Pelaez - Juanito's
father. He is a rich businessmen and arranges a wedding for his son and
Paulita. He and Simoun became business partners.
·
Tandang Selo - Father of Kabesang Tales and
grandfather of Tano and Juli. He raised the sick and young Basilio after he left
their house in Noli me Tangere. He died in an encounter on the mountains with
his son Tales, when he was killed by a battalion that included his own
grandson, Tano.
·
Father Fernández - The priest-friend of Isagani.
He promised to Isagani that he and the other priests will give in to the
students' demands.
·
Sandoval - The vice-leader of Macaraig's
gang. A Spanish classmate of Isagani, he coerces his classmates to lead
alongside him the opening of the Spanish language academy.
·
Hermana Báli - Another gambler in Tiani. She
became Juli's mother-figure and counselor; helped to release Kabesang Tales
from the hands of bandits.
·
Father Millon - The Physics teacher of the
University of Santo Tomas. He always becomes vindictive with Placido and always
taunts him during class.
·
Tadeo - Macaraig's classmate. He,
along with the other three members of their gang, supposedly posted the posters
that "thanked" Don Custodio and Father Irene for the opening of the
Academia de Castellano.
·
Leeds - An American who holds stage
plays starring severed heads; he is good friends with Simoun.
·
Tano - Kabesang Tales's elder son
after his older sister, Lucia died in childhood. He took up the pseudonym
"Carolina" after returning from exile in the Caroline Islands,
and became a civil guard. He was among the battalion killed his grandfather,
Selo, who was part of a group of an attacking rebels.
·
Pepay - Don Custodio's supposed
"girlfriend". A dancer, she is always agitated of her
"boyfriend"'s plans. She seems to be a close friend of Macaraig.
·
Gobernador General - The
highest-ranking official in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period,
this unnamed character pretends that what he is doing is for the good of the
Indios, the local citizens of the country, but in reality, he prioritizes the
needs of his fellow Spaniards living in the country.
·
Father Hernando de la Sibyla - A Dominican
friar introduced in Noli Me Tangere, now the vice-rector of the University of Santo Tomas
·
Pecson - classmate who had no idea on
the happenings occurring around him. He suggested that they held the mock
celebration at the panciteria.
·
Father Bernardo Salvi- Former parish
priest of San Diego in Noli Me Tangere, now the director and
chaplain of the Santa Clara convent.
·
Captain Tiago - Santiago delos Santos,
Captain Tiago is Maria Clara's stepfather and the foster-father to Basilio. His
health disintegrates gradually because of the opium he was forced
to smoke. Eventually, he died because Padre Irene scared him about the revolt
of the Filipinos.
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