Question 4

"Hated" is a strong word to use here. I don't think I'd ever trash three women with words for any reason, but I suppose if I were to play matchmaker to Rizal -- an actual playmaker -- and the many women he's ever had the pleasure of romancing, these five will be my recommendations and these three will be the ones he can probably do without.




Of the five, I shall pick:




Usui Seiko, partly because she is just a pure "waifu" and partly because I reckon she can open Rizal up to Japan's way of life and philosophy, one that can add to or recontextualize his burgeoning ideology. It helps that they legitimately hit it off with each other and was, at one point, ready to head to Japan and live a normal life away from the noise back home. In another life, had it been possible, I would have nudged Osei-san to just eloping with Rizal and helping out when need be.
Nellie Boustead, meanwhile, was such a muse to Rizal that he was willing to fence with Antonio Luna -- yes, that man Antonio Luna -- which may not be a surprise in hindsight given that Rizal had already known the Bousteads before. Accounts may paint a picture of her as the rebound after Leonor Rivera was forcibly engaged, but Rizal legitimately liked this woman, and it wasn't like Nellie didn't reciprocate, even if Rizal refused to convert to Protestantism as Nelie wanted. I reckon they could have gone further, but I understand why they did not.
I'd also recommend just reciprocating Gertrude Beckett, even if he had immense reservations at the time. It's one of the few things I wish Rizal at least considered if only just to affirm her view of Rizal as a lovable being. Or at least don't leave her hanging, Jose. Nellie did you better, which is more unrequited than you thought of Gettie.
Or for that matter, Suzanne Jacoby, whose time with Rizal felt like little more than a fling, even if Suzanne harbored feelings for him. It doesn't help that Rizal returned to Belgium with nary a peep about this girl, which is just uncool. She wrote letters for you! At least come up with a reasonable alibi for why you haven't been answering. Or maybe it's just because you were averse to committing knowing someone is waiting for you at home?
That woman being Leonor Rivera. Oh, to have actively intervened just to guarantee that Rivera and Rizal came and stayed together. I have a feeling at the back of my mind that the trajectory of his activism would have followed a different path, but considering how Andres Bonifacio's marriage with Gregoria de Jesus went, I also wouldn't be surprised if Rivera took up the cause in support -- after all, it would have been apparent to her that Rizal valued women as equals and that he has enough connections abroad that he can set up a suitable second home. Rivera was the woman Rizal loved the most, and up until the heartbreaking revelation of the engagement and the unread letters, Rizal never fully-commited to the four women I listed above, still waiting for any chance. There was the incest angle, which I'll address in this line, but other than the ramifications of sex and childbearing, I weirdly don't see anything too bad about the setup. The nudge: I'll tell them to adopt a baby.


The three searchees that I will tell him to let slide, on the other hand, are:




Consuela Ortega y Rey and Segunda Katigbak. Yes, yes, I know, lumping both of them together doesn't seem fair, but then, they were both engaged already to other courtiers and Rizal knew better than to push his luck. He was gallant, sure (and he seriously liked both of them), but he also respected their space, and considering he wasn't as big a deal back then as he was during his trips to Europe, he understood that it'd take more than words to show what he feels, that his love for either of them is real.
Leonor Valenzuela, meanwhile, was being juggled with the other Leonor, so it's uderstandable how both of them will be miffed that this young man is sending two paper boats on either bank of the river. But it was eventually Orang who gave way, so the lesson here applies less to the women and more to Pepe. Let's just say he's human and a typical male.

So where does Josephine Bracken figure in all this? Considering she was the only one who Rizal ever consummated to, it's easy to think that Rizal deeply loved Bracken enough to start a family and wait out his sentencing with. He would agree -- he claimed Bracken to be his own, even without a ceremony to tie the knot (the nuance is outside the scope of what I want to write here). But between a disapproving family and the fraught connections with George Tauffer on the part of Bracken and Rizal's trial and rebellion, the last woman Rizal romanced seems less like a full commitment and more like a respite before the end.




Let's agree to disagree, then, and say that Rizal loved women both out of respect and admiration as it is just a pure call of the loin and a burning desire to show affection. Romantically speaking, he did quite well indeed.