María Clara
| María Clara | |
|---|---|
| Noli Me Tángere character | |
| Created by | José Rizal Leonor Rivera, who was José Rizal's childhood sweetheart, served as the inspiration for the fictional character María Clara |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Monastic |
| Family | Santiago de los Santos (Adopted father) Padre Damaso (biological father) Pía Alba ( Adopted mother) |
| Relatives | Leny (aunt) |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Nationality | Filipino |
María Clara de Tolitol is a fictional character in Jose 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).