Sor Juana Ines De La Cruz Essay

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Recommended: The Catholic Church in the 16th century

Kimberly Dallmann
ENG 315
David Aitchison
01/29/2014
Biographical Essay
Assignment 2
Final Draft

Introduction
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, or Sister Juana, is widely celebrated as the first woman to have had her feminist works published in the New World. Sor Juana was born a daughter of the church, and is well known for her eagerness to learn as much as she could in her lifetime. Her eagerness to learn was so extreme, in fact, that she took vows to become a nun in her late teenage years and renewed her vows just one year before her death. Two of her most famous works Primero Sueño (First Dream) and Hombres Necios (Silly Men) both strongly outline her bold feelings about the lack of education for women as well as the unfair judgements and many times the double standards that men held during her lifetime. Sor Juana was a very intelligent, devout woman of many talents and unfortunately died relatively young but single-handedly paved the way for the future of women in society.

Background
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was born on the 12th of November, 1651 as Juana Ramírez de Asbaje. She was born in San Miguel Napantla, Viceroyalty of New Spain (present day Mexico) to a Spanish man Pedro Manuel de Asbaje and a Creole woman Isabel Ramírez. Her parents were never married, hence she was born out of wedlock and deemed a daughter of the church. After begging her mother to let her cross-dress in order to go to college, Sor Juana’s mother finally sent her to Mexico City to live with family and there her dreams to study actually came true.

Early Career
At just three years of age Sor Juana taught herself how to read and from then on began a long journey of self-education. In 1664, as she grew into her mid-teens, Sor Juana became a child prodigy ...

... middle of paper ...

...on what becomes of the people of Aztec and Christian religions when combined.

Later life/career
After Sor Juana’s critique of a sermon given by Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz, she was faced with a lot of pressure by the church community to discontinue her studies. From 1691 to 1692, Mexico City was hit with floods and famine and this kept her from publishing any works. In 1694, the year before her death, Sor Juana sold her entire personal collection of some 4,000 books as well as musical instruments and scientific equipment in order to appease the church community. The funds received from selling her personal collection and instruments were given as donations to the less fortunate, also known as alms. In 1695, the plague viciously took the convent Santa Paula and Sor Juana eventually died from the plague after taking care of her fellow sisters.

Critical reception

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