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