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==Description== |
==Description== |
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In the novel, María Clara is regarded as the most beautiful and celebrated lady in the town of San Diego. A devout Roman Catholic, she became the epitome of virtue; "demure and self-effacing" and endowed with beauty, grace and charm, she was promoted by Rizal as the "ideal image"<ref name=Varti/> of a [[Women in the Philippines|Filipino woman]] who deserves to be placed on the "pedestal of male honour". In Chapter 5, María Clara and her traits were further described by Rizal as an "Oriental decoration" with "downcast" eyes and a "pure soul".<ref name=Univie>Yoder |
In the novel, María Clara is regarded as the most beautiful and celebrated lady in the town of San Diego. A devout Roman Catholic, she became the epitome of virtue; "demure and self-effacing" and endowed with beauty, grace and charm, she was promoted by Rizal as the "ideal image"<ref name=Varti/> of a [[Women in the Philippines|Filipino woman]] who deserves to be placed on the "pedestal of male honour". In Chapter 5, María Clara and her traits were further described by Rizal as an "Oriental decoration" with "downcast" eyes and a "pure soul".<ref name="Univie">{{Cite web |last=Yoder |first=Robert L. |date=July 16, 1998 |title=Philippine Heroines of the Revolution: Maria Clara They Were Not |url=http://www.philippinen.at/aufi/wstat/heroine.htm |access-date=March 24, 2024 |website=Austro-Philippine Society}}</ref> |
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==Characterization== |
==Characterization== |
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In Filipino fashion, María Clara's name has become the [[eponym]] for a multi-piece ensemble known as the [[María Clara gown]], emulating the character's traits of being delicate, feminine, self-assured, and with a sense of identity.<ref name=Koleksyon>Moreno, Jose "Pitoy". [http://www.koleksyon.com/filipinoheritage/costumes/findesiecle/maria_clara.asp Costume at the Fin de Siecle – Maria Clara], Philippine Costume, koleksyon.com</ref> |
In Filipino fashion, María Clara's name has become the [[eponym]] for a multi-piece ensemble known as the [[María Clara gown]], emulating the character's traits of being delicate, feminine, self-assured, and with a sense of identity.<ref name=Koleksyon>Moreno, Jose "Pitoy". [http://www.koleksyon.com/filipinoheritage/costumes/findesiecle/maria_clara.asp Costume at the Fin de Siecle – Maria Clara], Philippine Costume, koleksyon.com</ref> |
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In the 1920s, María Clara became what [[Nick Joaquin]] described as a saccharine ideal, a sentimentalized [[stock character]]. Writers such as Joaquin disagreed that Rizal wrote María Clara as an ideal for [[Women in the Philippines|Filipinas]] to imitate.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joaquin |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Joaquin |title=Jose Rizal |publisher=Manor Press |year=1956 |editor-last=Orosa |editor-first=Sixto Y. |editor-link=Sixto Orosa |location=Manila |page=19{{endash}}27 |chapter=The Novels of Rizal (An Appreciation) |script-chapter=}}</ref> The |
In the 1920s, María Clara became what [[Nick Joaquin]] described as a saccharine ideal, a sentimentalized [[stock character]]. Writers such as Joaquin disagreed that Rizal wrote María Clara as an ideal for [[Women in the Philippines|Filipinas]] to imitate.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joaquin |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Joaquin |title=Jose Rizal |publisher=Manor Press |year=1956 |editor-last=Orosa |editor-first=Sixto Y. |editor-link=Sixto Orosa |location=Manila |page=19{{endash}}27 |chapter=The Novels of Rizal (An Appreciation) |script-chapter=}}</ref> The ideal of María Clara continues into the 21st century, including by brands. The scene where she chose to become a nun rather than marry another man has reinforced the cultural expectation that Filipinas should be "modest and conservative", one brought by the [[Spanish Colonial Period (Philippines)|Spanish colonialists]].<ref name=":1" /> Scholars have long attacked the idealized María Clara.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Arias |first=Jacqueline |date=August 9, 2019 |title="Maria Clara" is not always the best definition of Filipinas |url=https://preen.inquirer.net/99184/maria-clara-is-not-always-the-best-definition-of-filipinas |access-date=March 24, 2024 |website=[[Philippine Daily Inquirer|Preen]]}}</ref> |
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==Creation of the feminine ideal== |
==Creation of the feminine ideal== |
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| María Clara | |
|---|---|
| Noli Me Tángere character | |
Leonor Rivera, who was José Rizal's childhood sweetheart, served as the inspiration for the fictional character María Clara
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| Created by | José Rizal |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Monastic |
| Family | Santiago de los Santos (father) Padre Dámaso (biological father) Pía Alba (mother) |
| Relatives | Isabel (aunt) |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Nationality | Filipino |
María Clara de los Santos is a character in José Rizal's novel Noli Me Tángere (1887). The beautiful María Clara is the childhood sweetheart and fiancée of the protagonist, Crisóstomo Ibarra, who returns to his Filipino hometown of San Diego to marry her. After Ibarra is implicated in a fake revolution and is thought to be dead, María Clara opts to become a nun rather than marry another man. She remains unhappy for the rest of her life and her death is later mentioned in the sequel, El filibusterismo (1891).
In the novel, María Clara is regarded as the most beautiful and celebrated lady in the town of San Diego. A devout Roman Catholic, she became the epitome of virtue; "demure and self-effacing" and endowed with beauty, grace and charm, she was promoted by Rizal as the "ideal image"[1] of a Filipino woman who deserves to be placed on the "pedestal of male honour". In Chapter 5, María Clara and her traits were further described by Rizal as an "Oriental decoration" with "downcast" eyes and a "pure soul".[2]
Because of her parentage, María Clara had Eurasian features, described by Rizal thus:
"María Clara did not have the small eyes of her father: like her mother she had them large and black, beneath long lashes; gay and smiling when she played, sad and soulful and pensive when she was not laughing. Since childhood her hair had an almost golden hue; her nose, of a correct profile, was neither sharp nor flat; her mouth reminded one of her mother's, small and perfect, with two beautiful dimples on her cheeks. Her skin had the fine texture of an onion layer, the whiteness of cotton, according to her enthusiastic relatives. They saw traces of Capitan Tiago's paternity in the small and well-rounded ears of María Clara."[3]
María Clara had been described in her childhood as everybody's idol, growing up among smiles and loves.[3] Although Noli only touches upon her briefly in chapters, she is depicted as playful, exchanging wit and bantering with Ibarra, as well as expressing jealous possession when talking about him to her friends.[4]
She is also very kind and considerate, and notices people whom others do not; she was the only person who noticed Elías during the fishing excursion and offered him biscuits.[5] During the eve of the feast of San Diego, she also approached and offered her locket to a leper, despite her friends' warnings and shows of disgust.[6]
During the latter half of the novel, she was often sickly and subdued. Having been separated from Ibarra, and hearing the news of his excommunication, she took ill, and eventually was blackmailed by Padre Salvi into distancing herself from Ibarra. She was also coerced into giving up Ibarra's love letters, which were ultimately used to implicate him.[7]
In spite of her broken engagement with Ibarra, and subsequent engagement to Linares, she remained fiercely devoted to Ibarra. Upon hearing the news of his death, she told Padre Dámaso:
"While he was alive, I was thinking on keeping on: I was hoping, I was trusting! I wanted to live to be able to hear about him... but now that they have killed him, there is no longer a reason for me to live and suffer... While he was alive, I could get married... I thought of flight afterwards... my father does not want anything but the connections! Now that he is dead nobody else shall claim me as his wife... When he was alive, I could degrade myself, there was left the comfort of knowing he lived and perhaps would think of me. Now that he is dead... the convent for me or the grave!"[8]
This ultimatum caused Padre Dámaso to relent and permit his daughter's entry into the Royal Monastery of Saint Clare (that until 1945 stood in Intramuros).
Rizal based the fictional character of María Clara on his real-life girlfriend and cousin, Leonor Rivera. Although praised and idolized, María Clara's chaste, "masochistic" and "easily fainting" character has also been denounced as the "greatest misfortune that has befallen the Filipina in the last one hundred years".[1][9] Scholars have also denounced the insinuated culture of María Clara, notably that of Filipinas being submissive and quiet towards men – a stereotype that was first brought by the Spanish colonialists. Historians have pointed out that Filipinas have historically been more vocal and have served positions equal to, and some even higher than, men.[10]
In Filipino fashion, María Clara's name has become the eponym for a multi-piece ensemble known as the María Clara gown, emulating the character's traits of being delicate, feminine, self-assured, and with a sense of identity.[11]
In the 1920s, María Clara became what Nick Joaquin described as a saccharine ideal, a sentimentalized stock character. Writers such as Joaquin disagreed that Rizal wrote María Clara as an ideal for Filipinas to imitate.[12] The ideal of María Clara continues into the 21st century, including by brands. The scene where she chose to become a nun rather than marry another man has reinforced the cultural expectation that Filipinas should be "modest and conservative", one brought by the Spanish colonialists.[10] Scholars have long attacked the idealized María Clara.[13]
Catholicism during the colonial ruling of the Philippines influenced the creation of a new feminine ideal of Filipina women. María Clara as a colonial figure became the ideal Filipina woman as she embodied the qualities of the Virgin archetype, mainly purity, chastity and sacrifice. Along with the impossible standard that María Clara upholds, the effects of Catholicism have led to taboos against the expression and discussion of female sexuality.[14]
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Maria Clara has been portrayed in several films and television series:
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