Monica Machado Period 6

On November 12, 1651 Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz de Asbaje y Ramirez was born in the village of San Miguel Nepantla near Mexico City. She was the illegitimate child of a Spanish Captain, Pedro Manuel de Asbaje and her creole mother, Isabe Ramirez. The father, according to all accounts, was absent from her life.

The city where Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was born and raised

She was baptized December 2 when she was registered on the Church rolls as "a daughter of the Church" because her parents were not married. She was raised in the country at the home of her maternal grandfather, Pedro Ramírez, on his hacienda.

This is similar to the church Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was baptized in.

She learned how to read and write at the age of three. By age five, she could do accounts, and at age eight she composed a loa, or short dramatic poem, in honor of the Blessed Sacrament. By adolescence, she had mastered Greek logic, at age thirteen she was teaching Latin to young children, she also learned nahuatl, and she wrote some short poems in that language.

The language in which Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz wrote several of her poems

In 1654 to 1658, Sor Juana heard of the university in Mexico City and begged her mother to send her there disguised as a boy. Her mother refused, so Sor Juana continued to content herself with her grandfather's library. She received twenty Latin grammar lessons which she forced herself to learn well by cutting her hair off every time she didn't learn to a certain point. She later said, in her Reply to Sor Philothea, "It turned out that the hair grew quickly and I learned slowly. As a result, I cut off the hair in punishment for my head's ignorance, for it didn't seem right to me that a head so naked of knowledge should be dressed up with hair. For knowledge is a more desirable adornment." (Flynn, 15)

Sor Juana wanted to go to the University of Mexico City but her mother would not allow her.

A new vice regal couple, Antonio Sebastian de Toledo, Marquis de Mancera, and Leonor Carreto arrived in Mexico City in They heard of Sor Juana and she was presented at their court. Vicereine Leonor took the sixteen year-old girl under her wing as a maid-in- waiting. Sor Juana spent five years in the court of the vice regal couple. She continued to develop intellectually and socially. The Marquis later recounted that he tested Sor Juana's knowledge with a variety of well-educated men; the ease with which she answered their questions and argued her points put to rest once and for all her intellectual brilliance. Also during this time, she wrote numerous poems and sonnets, many for funerary or celebratory occasions.

The marquis that showed off Sor Juana’s talents to many of his scholar friends

Sor Juana wrote another secular play, Love, the Greater Labyrinth in Marquise de la Laguna had an anthology of Sor Juana's poetry published in Spain under the title The Overflowing of the Castalian Spring, by the Tenth Muse of Mexico. Sor Juana also wrote a sacramental play, The Divine Narcissus at the Marquise's request.

The sacramental play that Sor Juana wrote at the Marquis’s request

She was much admired in the vice-royal court for her beauty, and refused several proposals of marriage. In 1667, she entered the Convent of the Discalced Carmelites of St. Joseph, but only remained there briefly. In 1669, she entered the Convent of the Order of St. Jérôme, where she remained until her death.

A convent similar to the one Sor Juana resided at

In 1690, a letter was published attacking Sor Juana's focus on the sciences, and suggesting that she should devote her time to soft theology. In response to clergy who sought to reprimand her, Sor Juana wrote a letter entitled Respuesta a Sor Filotea in which she defended women's right to any education they desired. The Catholic Church, by the use of the Archbishop of Mexico joined other high- ranking officials in condemning Sor Juana's "defiance."

The letter Sor Juana wrote entitled Respuesta a Sor Filotea in which she defended women's right to any education

At the convent, Sor Juana served as an accountant and librarian. Though several times nominated for prioress, she repeatedly declined the honor, but the real marvel was her literary output. She wrote both poetry and prose, on worldly as well as religious themes. Exploring different forms, she wrote loas, plays, comedies, historical vignettes and imaginative tales of mythology. A long poem, written in 1680 and translated into English as First Dream, is considered her leading work. Three other major works were published in Spain -- Inundación Castálida (Madrid 1689), Segundo Volumen de las Obras de Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Seville 1992) and Fama y Obras Póstumas (Madrid 1700).

One of Sor Juana’s major works published in Spain

Shortly afterwards, however, she prepared two affirmations to the effect that she planned to get rid of all her books, maps and instruments and henceforth dedicate herself entirely to the poor. For the four years that remained of her life, she remained faithful to this commitment of sacrificing intellectual activity to purely religious duties. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz died on April 17, 1695, while nursing infected sister nuns during an epidemic.

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