Rizal’s Biography

May 14, 2014 (Week #4)

Rizal’s Biography

http://malacanang.gov.ph/4036-152nd-birth-anniversary-of-dr-jose-p-rizal/

Rizal’s biography is mostly composed of:

1. Family, friends, and relatives
2. Education, professional training, and career
3. Hybridity (the native and foreign in him)
4. Calamba Hacienda problem
5. Dapitan Interlude
6. Trial, execution, and revolution of 1896

Rizal’s life history:

                1861-1882            Formative Years

                 Calamba, Binan, Ateneo, and the Jesuits, GOMBURZA martyrdom, imprisonment of Teodora Alonzo, literary ventures, encounter with the Guardia Civil.

                1882-1887            European Sojourn

                           Enlightenment education, medical studies, patriotism, Noli Me Tangere.

                1887-1888            The Turning Point

                           The Calamba Hacienda Case.

                1888-1892            The Second Sojourn

                           Radicalization of Rizal, historical, ethological, and linguistic studies, Los Indios Bravos, conflict with Marcelo H. del Pilar and La Soladiridad, El Filibusterismo.

                1892-1896            The Moment of Truth

                     Rizal and the revolution, La Liga Filipina and the Katipunan, exile to Dapitan, arrests and Martyrdom.

The Works of Rizal:

• Noli Me Tangere

                Also known as “Touch Me Not”. Jose Rizal made the novel to expose the ills of         Philippine society during the Spanish Era. This novel was supposed to be written by           a group of Filipinos; However, they didn’t contribute anything. So Rizal decided to           draft the novel all on his own.

• El Filibusterismo

             Also known as “Reign of Greed”. This is the second novel that is the sequel to Noli Me Tangere. The novel already has a bit of a dark theme as compared to the romantic atmosphere of the previous one. This signifies that the character, Ibarra, is now resorting to violent means to solve the country’s issues after the previous attempt at reforming the country’s system have failed.

•  Letter to the Women of Malolos

               

               This was originally written in tagalog. Rizal wrote the letter when he was still in            Madrid, after Marcelo H. del Pilar’s request. Rizal was impressed after the young               women of Malolos fought for their rights of equality and education.

                Some of his other works are Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, which was about the history of the Philippines before the Spaniards came. The Indolence of Filipinos, it is an exploratory essay to explain the alleged idleness of his people during the Spanish Colonization. The Philippines a Century Hence, this was to forecast the future of the country within a hundred years. The Religiosity of the Filipinos, which was Rizal’s point of view with regards to religion and religious misconceptions on Filipino Catholicism.

Read more at Other Works by and about Rizal