Rizal, the Romantic
The loves of Rizal
“When beauty and ugliness are placed side by side, they form a contrast that makes the former more vivid; the latter more shameful”.
There is a suspicion that the plot of Noli and Fili were lifted from the story plot of “The Count of Monte Cristo”. Both were about revenge and the character of Simoun/Ibarra was somewhat similar to the protagonist of the said novel of Alexander Dumas.
There were at least nine women linked with Rizal namely:
1. Segunda Katigbak
2. Leonor Valenzuela
3. Leonor Rivera
4. Consuelo Ortiga
5. O Sei San
6. Gertrude Beckett
7. Nellie Bousted
8. Suzanne Jacoby
9. Josephine Bracken
Symbolically, the love of the motherland reigns supreme.
Segunda Katigbak and Leonor Valenzuela
Segunda Katigbak was considered as the puppy love of Rizal:
“she was rather short with eyes that were ardent and eloquent at times languid at others, rosy cheeked, with an enchanting provocative smile that revealed beautiful teeth…”. She was however engaged to someone else.
Leonor Valenzuela was the opposite of Segunda Katigbak. Rizal even went to the length of devising an invisible ink to have his love letters written.
Leonor Rivera
She was the longest relationship Rizal had, 11 years. Unfortunately, the mother of Leonor Rivera disapproved with the relationship and went to the extent of hiding Rizal’s letter from her daughter.
Believing that Rizal already had forgotten about her, consented to marry someone else (Henry Kipping, an English).
Consuelo Ortiga
Rizal broke off his blossoming relationship with Consuelo in the belief that Leonor Rivera was still loyal to him. This was in Spain, Madrid.
O Sei San (Seiko Usui)
A Japanese samurai’s daughter.
Gertrude Beckett
An Englishwoman, a daughter of his landlord in London.
Nellie Bousted
Antonio Luna uttered a disparaging comment about Nellie Bousted and Rizal challenged Luna to a duel. Luna apologized thus averting a potential tragedy for the Filipino compatriots.
The relationship was doomed to fail because of Rizal’s refusal to convert to protestant faith and his lack of prospect of a paid physician in Europe.
Suzanne Jacoby
In Brussels, a landlord’s niece caught the affection/attention of Rizal. Another classic case of passing fancy.
Josephine Bracken
Daughter of a blind patient, Rizal met the mother of his future child in his exile in Dapitan. Rizal tried to marry her but was held hostage by the church subject to a retraction of all writings of Rizal.
She became a common law wife instead. A live in partner, a union without the sanction of the Catholic Church.
Rizal, Man of Honor and a Gentleman
- Antonio Luna made some nasty comment about the current paramour of Rizal and was immediately challenged to a duel.
- Wenceslao R. Retano charged that the family of Rizal didn’t paid their rents for lands in Calamba and was also challenged to a duel.
- A French businessman in Dapitan charged that Rizal sold him logs of poor quality. This again led to another challenge/duel.
- MH del Pilar and Rizal once contested the leadership of La Solaridad in Spain and Rizal’s refusal to be a cause of disunity led to united stance of compatriots in Europe.
- Rizal even refused to escape his exile in Dapitan since he gave his word of honor to Governor Ramon Blanco.
Points to be made:
1. Courtship in Rizal’s time as opposed to the prevailing courtship practice nowadays.
2. How do the present reporters court their present GF’s.
3. Love of motherland.
4. Rizal’s refusal to be a cause of disunity.
5. Palabra de honor as oppose to GMA.
6. Socrates, the first martyr of knowledge.
