Noli Me Tangere

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Noli Me Tángere Noli Me Tángere (Touch me Not / Don't touch me) is a novel written by José Rizal during the colonization of the country by Spain to expose the inequities of the Spanish Catholic priests and the ruling government. Originally written in Spanish, the book is more commonly published and read in the Philippines in either Filipino or English. Together with its sequel, El Filibusterismo, the reading of Noli is obligatory for high school students throughout the archipelago. Rizal finished the novel in December 1886. He was struggling with financial constraints at the time and thought it would be hard to pursue printing the novel. A financial aid came from a friend named Máximo Viola which helped him print his book at a fine print media in Berlin. Rizal at first, however, hesitated but Viola insisted and ended up lending Rizal ₱300 for 2,000 copies; Noli was eventually printed in Berlin, Germany.Rizal had sent a copy of the novel to his friend Blumentritt. Major Characters of Noli Me Tángere Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin, commonly referred to the novel as Ibarra or Crisóstomo, is the protagonist in the story. Son of a Filipino businessman, Don Rafael Ibarra, he studied in Europe for seven years.Ibarra is also María Clara's fiancé. Several sources claim that Ibarra is also Rizal's reflection. María Clara de los Santos y Alba, commonly referred to as María Clara, is Ibarra's fiancée. She was raised by Capitán Tiago, San Diego's cabeza de barangay and is the most beautiful and widely celebrated girl in San Diego. In the later parts of the novel, María Clara's identity was revealed as an illegitimate daughter of Father Dámaso, former parish curate of the town, and Doña Pía Alba, wife of Capitán Tiago.In the end she entered local convent for nuns Beaterio de Santa Clara. In the epilogue dealing with the fate of the characters, Rizal stated that it is
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