Module 13

Biarritz Vacation and Romance with Nelly Boustead

El Filibusterismo Published in Ghent

Prepared by:

Flor A. Docusin
Learning Objectives:

At the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Describe the romance with Nelly Boustead.
Explain the reasons of his retirement in the propaganda movement.
Give the highlight of El Filibusterismo.
Distinguish which novel is more superior the Noli or the Fili.
Enumerate and explain Rizal’s unfinished novel.
Introduction
When Rizal arrived in Biarritz at the beginning of February, 1891, he was
warmly welcomed by the Bousteads, particularly Mr. Boustead who had
taken a great liking for him because of his remarkable talents. As a family
guest, he was treated with friendliness and hospitality by Mrs. Boustead,
Adelina, Nellie, and Aunt Isabel (Mrs, Boustead sister).
September 18, 1891-El Filibusterismo came off the press. Rizal, a very
happy man, sent two copies to Hong Kong-one for Basa and the other for
Sixto Lopez. The book was dedicated to the three Filipino priest who were
executed in the Philippines.
Biarritz Vacation and Romance with Nelly Boustead
With the Boustead in Biarittz
As a family guest, he was treated with friendliness and hospitality by the
Bousteads.
February 11, 1891-he wrote to Mariano Ponce, he said: “I have put on
much weight since I arrived here; my cheeks are no longer shrunken as
before for the reason that I go to bed early and I have no cares.”
Rizal having lost his beloved Leonor, came to entertain considerable
affection for Nellie the prettier and younger daughter of his host.
He found her to be a real Filipina, highly intelligent, vivacious in
temperament, and morally upright. He wrote to his intimate friends,
except Professor Blumentritt, of his love for Nellie, also called Nelly,
and his intention to propose marriage to her. Antonio Luna, who had
previously loved and lost Nelly, encouraged Rizal to woo and marry
her. From Madrid he wrote to Rizal.
With the encouragement of his close friends, Rizal courted Nelly who, in
turn, reciprocated his affection.
Unfortunately, their romance beneath the lovely Biarritz moon did not have
a happy fairy tale finale.
Rizal’s marriage proposal failed for two reasons:
1. He refused to give up his Catholic faith and be converted to
Protestantism, as Nelly demanded.
2. 2. Nelly’s Mother did not like Rizal as a son-in-law. Nelly’s mother, like
the mother of Leonor Rivera, had no wish to entrust her daughter’s
happiness to a man who was poor in material things, a physician
without a paying clientele,
 a writer who earned nothing from his pen, and a reformer who was
persecuted by the friars and government officials in his own country.
El Filibusterismo Finished in Biarritz
March 29, 1891-the eve of his departure from Biarritz to Paris, he finished
the manuscript of El Filibusterismo.
To Paris and Back to Brussels
March 30, 1891-Rizal bade farewell to the hospitable and friendly
Bousteads (parents and daughters)and proceeded to Paris by train. He
stayed at the home of his friend,Valentin Ventura, on Rue de Chateaudum.
April 4, 1891-From Paris he wrote to his friend, Jose Ma. Basa, in Hong
Kong, expressing his desire to go to that British colony and practise
ophthalmology in order to earn his living.
By the middle o April, 1891, Rizal was back in Brussels, where he was
happily received by Marie and Suzanne Jacoby (his landladies) and, above
all, by Petite Suzanne (the Belgian girl who loved him).
Rizal Stopped Writing for La Solidaridad
Simultaneous with his retirement from the Propaganda Movement,
Rizal ceased writing articles for La Solidaridad.
Many of his friends in Spain urged him to continue writing for the
patriotic periodical, because his articles always attracted considerable
attention in European countries.
Retirement from the Propaganda movement
He desired to publish his second novel, to practice his medical
profession, and later, when he became financially independent, he
expected to make a vigorous campaign for his country’s redemption.
May 1, 1891-he notified the propaganda authorities in Manila to cancel
his monthly allowance and devote the money to some better cause,
such as the education of a young Filipino student in Europe.
August 7, 1891-M.H. Del Pilar wrote to Rizal begging forgiveness for
any resentment and requesting him (Rizal to resume writing for the La
Solidaridad.
We would much like that you resume writing for it; not only would
defeat the friar intrigue in the Philippines.
Revising the Fili for Publication
May 3, 1891-the revision was mostly completed. On this date, he wrote
Jose Ma. Basa.
June 13, 1891-Rizal informed Basa: I am now negotiating with a printing
firm and as I do not know if it will be printed here (Belgium) or Spain, I
cannot send it to you as yet. In case it is not published here, I will send it to
you by next mail. Only three chapters are left to be corrected.
If by chance anything happens to me, I leave its publication… If my Noli is
not published I shall board a train on the following day when I receive your
letter with the passage money; but if my book is published I shall have to
wait until it comes off the press.”
El Filibusterismo Published in Ghent
The Privations in Ghent
July 5, 1891-Rizal left Brussels for Ghent, a famous university city of
Belgium.
His reasons for moving to Ghent were:
1. The cost of printing in Ghent was cheaper than in Brussels.
2. To escape from the enticing attraction of Petite Suzanne.
In Ghent, he met two compatriots both studying engineering in the
World-famed University of Ghent.
1. Jose Alejandro (from Pampanga)
2. Edilberto Evangelista (from Manila)
The Printing of El Filibusterismo
F. MEYER-VAN-LOO PRESS, No. 66 Vianderen Street—who was willing
to print his book on installment basis. He pawned his jewels in order to
pay the down payment and the early partial payments during the printing of
the novel.
August 6, 1891-the printing had to be suspended, as Rizal feared, because
he could no longer give the necessary funds to the printer.
Ventura, Savior of the Fili
Once more he felt the dolorous grip of despair. In a moment of bitter
disillusionment, he almost hurled the manuscript of the Fili into the flames,
just as he almost did the Noli in Berlin.
Valentin Ventura-learned of Rizal’s predicament and immediately sent him
the necessary funds. With his financial aid, the printing of the Fili resumed.
The Fili comes Off the Press
September 18, 1891-El Filibusterismo came off the press.
To his friend in Paris, Valentin Ventura, who generously loaned him the
funds needed to finish the printing of the novel, Rizal gratefully donated
the original manuscript and an autographed printed copy.
He sent other complimentary copies to Blumentritt, Mariano Ponce, G.
Lopez Jaena, T.H. Pardo de Tavera, Antonio and Juan Luna, and other
friends.
El Nuevo Regimen, serialized the novel in its issues of October, 1891.
All copies of the first edition (Ghent edition) of El Filibusterismo were
placed in wooden boxes and shipped to Hong Kong, but almost all the
boxes were confiscated and the books were lost.
El Filibusterismo dedicated to Gom-Bur-Za
Rizal in all the years of his studies, travels, and labors in foreign lands, had
not forgotten the martyrdom of Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora,
which Paciano related to him when he was a mere lad in Calamba.
La Publicidad-a Barcelona newspaper, eulogizing the novel’s original
style which “is comparable only to the sublime Alexander Dumas”
and may well be offered as a “model and a precious jewel in the
decadent literature of Spain”.
The Manuscript and the Book
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 P10,000. It consists
of 279 pages of long sheets of paper.
Two features in the manuscript do not appear in the printed book
1. Foreword
2. Warning
Synopsis of El Filibusterismo
This novel is a sequel to the Noli. It has little humor, less idealism, and less
romance than the Noli Me Tangere. It is more revolutionary, more tragic
than the first novel.
Simoun-is a rich jeweler the hero of El Filibusterismo. Outwardly, Simoun
is a friend of Spain. However, deep in his heart, he is secretly cherishing a
terrible revenge against the Spanish authorities.
1. To rescue Maria Clara from the nunnery of Santa Clara.
2. To foment a revolution against the hated Spanish masters.
“Noli” and “Fili Compared
The Noli- is a romantic novel; it is a “work of the heart”—a “book of
feeling”; it has freshness, color, humor, lightness, and wit.
The Fili-is a political novel; it is a “work of the head”—a “book of the
thought”; it contains bitterness, hatred, pain, violence, and sorrow.
The original intension of Rizal was to make the Fili longer than the Noli.
As printed, however, it is shorter than the Noli. It contains 38 chapters as
against the Noli’s 64. Rizal had to cut the Fili drastically owing to lack
of funds.
The issue of which is the superior novel—the 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; and both are
responsible in paving the ground for the Philippine Revolution that brought
about the downfall of Spain.
Rizal’s Unfinished Third Novel
October 18, 1891-Rizal boarded the steamer Melbourne in Marseilles
bound for Hong Kong.
The unfinished third novel has no title. It consists of 44 pages (33 cm.x21
cm.) in Rizal’s handwriting, still in manuscript form, it is preserved in the
National Library, Manila.
Rizal’s Other Unfinished Novels
Makamisa-a novel in Tagalog. It is written in a light sarcastic style and is
incomplete for only two chapters are finished. The manuscript consist of 20
pages, 34.2 cm. x 22 cm.
Another novel which Rizal started to write was entitled Dapitan. It is
unfinished, written in a light sarcastic style and is incomplete for only two
chapters are finished. The manuscript consists of 20 pages, 34.2 cm. x
22cm.
A novel in Spanish about the life in Pili, a town in Laguna, is also
unfinished. The manuscript consists of 147 pages, 8”x6.5, without title.
Another unfinished novel of Rizal, also without title, is about Cristobal, a
youthful Filipino student who has returned from Europe.
Summary
To seek solace for his disappointment in Madrid, Rizal took a
vacation in the resort city of Biarritz. He was a guest of the rich
Boustead family at its winter residence-Villa Eliada. It was in Biarritz
where he had a serious romance with Nellie and finished the last
chapter of his second novel El Filibusterismo.
He had begun writing it in October, 1887, while practicing medicine
in Calamba. The following year (1888), in London, he made some
changes in the plot and corrected some chapters already written. He
wrote some chapters in Paris and Madrid, and finished the manuscript
in Biarritz on March 29, 1891.