Sor Juana Essay

Sor Juana Essay

Sor Juana Ines De La Cruz was a woman far beyond her years. Living in a time when society was dominated by men, she disregarded the fact that women during this time were forced to be uncurious objects, whose highest achievement in life was to give birth. Her relentless pursuit to attain knowledge and defy her culture's standards for women is illustrated throughout her writings. In the readings, ("Response to the Most Illustrious Poetess Sor Filotes de la Cruz, the three "Romances" and the "Redondillas"), she spills out her beliefs, feelings and pain in forms of symbolic devices and irony in attempt to erase the differences between men and women as intellectual beings, as well as to argue for a woman's right to pursue intellectual activities.

Sor Juana was born in 1648 in a rural town outside of Mexico City. She was the illegitimate daughter of Pedro Manuel de Asbaje. Pedro was, a Basque and vacant from the household and Sor Juana's life. Her mother was Isabel Ramirez. Mrs. Ramirez, a Creole, was a strong figure that gained control of the hacienda due to the absence of Pedro. Sor Juana's mother was very important to her and held her dear to her heart.

Sor Juana was not even three years old when she followed her older sister to Amerigas, a school for girls. (p. 13) Driven by a relentless desire to learn how to read, Sor Juana deceived the lady that was teaching her sister by telling her that her mother also wanted her to learn as well. In doing this she also kept the secret of knowing how to read from her mother. Sor Juana was not your typical child; she abstained from eating cheese because she had heard that it slowed the learning process, and by six or seven, she had learned how to read write, along with other skills of needlework and household arts that girls learn. (p. 15)

It was at this time that Sor Juana wanted to study the sciences and attend a University in Mexico City. Her mother would have none of this and Sor Juana used this disappointment as motivation to read as many books as she could in her grandfather's library.

When Sor Juana actually moved to the city, she impressed everyone that was associated with her. They not only marveled at the amount of knowledge and memory that Sor Juana had gained, but rather at the age at which she had attained them. During her Latin grammar studies, she cut her hair significantly short when she felt that she had not attained enough knowledge in a given amount of time. Girls' hair length during this time period was adorned and held in high esteem.

Her desire to learn and aversion towards marriage, Sor Juana turned to the convent. Once in the convent Sor Juana felt that her studies of the Lord were empty. She felt that she wasn't studying the word of the lord out of his love, but rather out of her desire to learn. She then aspired to study Theology and dedicated this to His service.

In her course of studies directed towards the Sacred Theology, Sor Juana used her never ending desire to learn to her advantage. In doing this she states that, to fully understand the reading of the lord, one must fully understand the Arts, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, Logic and the Sciences. Sor Juana is full of wit and throughout her writings a sense of irony or sarcasm is evident. She states that "as women, what wisdom is ours if not the philosophy of the kitchen." In response to comments about women in the kitchen, Sor Juana says, "Had Aristotle prepared victuals, he would have written more." (p. 43)

Throughout her writing "Response to the Most Illustrious Poetess Sor Filotea de la Cruz," Sor Juana states that she wanted no altercations with the church or the archbishop. Also, she states that she only wrote when she was compelled or constrained in doing so. Her writings were intended on the pleasures of others, not her own. She also uses sarcasm when stating "I have never deemed myself one who has any worth in letters or the wit necessity demands of one who could write; and thus my customary response to those who press me, above all in sacred matters, is, what capacity of reason have I? what application? What resources? What rudimentary knowledgeÐ'..." "Leave those matters to those who understand them, I wish no quarrel with the Holy Office, for I am ignorant." (p.11)

Sor Juana was very different from the other women living in Colonial Latin America. She was a woman that strove for more out of life, regardless of gender and social stratifications. Even as a child, Sor Juana begged her mother to dress her as a boy so she could attend the schools and Universities in Mexico City. She chose to live her life in the convent,