Sor, or Sister, Juana Ines de la Cruz was an eminent Mexican poetess and a Carmelite nun, who lived in 1651-1695 and worked in the literary field during the period of the so-called Spanish Golden Age. Her writings were created within the literary movement of Baroque. Sister Juana is one of the primary contributors to Mexican and Spanish American literature.
One of the most famous of her works is the autobiographic “Response to the Most Illustrious Poetess Sor Filotea de la Cruz” written in March 1691. Sister Juana wrote this text as a response to Bishop Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz. The latter, under the pseudonym Sor Filotea de la Cruz, has accused Juana of disobedience (which was a serious accusation for a nun) and has claimed that no woman should ever try to study any philosophic topics. To defend women, Sister Juana mentions scholarly women of earlier times, such as Hypatia of Alexandria. Juana tells about her overmastering passion to knowledge, but demonstrates some subordination, claiming that it is better to have a vice to the letters than to something else. In her own noble way, she confesses that she does not study in order to write or to teach, but to see if she can become less ignorant. It is clear that Juana wants the attention not merely of the bishop, but of the whole Mexican society. Even though the author never made an attempt to publish the work herself, throughout the text she reflects on such thing as publishing without the author’s permission. Apparently she hopes that someone would do it and spread her ideas. Finally, the bishop himself published Juana’s letter.
The style Juana employs in her text is fluent. Sometimes the text looks like an autobiography, then it is an argument and, finally, it becomes a presentation of her ideas.
This work may be considered an early feministic piece of writing. Despite the rejection of this notion by some scholars, two reasons can be mentioned, for which Juana’s work can be named a feministic one.
The first and primary reason is that in her text Juana defends the right of women to study and engage in literary activity. She logically evaluates her argument, explaining that education is a good cause behind the eyes of God, and criticizes the Church for its requirement that women stay uneducated. Juana speaks about the difficulties she faced because of her being a woman, who wanted to explore and research.
Moreover, Juana knows and recognizes the achievements of great women, and tries to make a reader admire them as well. Apart from the above-mentioned Hypatia, whom Juana praises for her knowledge, she speaks at length about others, such as Leontion, an Epicurean; Julia Domna, a remarkably literate mother of two emperors; Corinna, a Greek poetess; Cornelia, a literary Roman woman and the mother of the Gracchi; the pythonesses, i.e. female Delphi oracles; St. Catherine of Alexandria; St. Gertrude, a theologian; Maria Christina, the Queen of Sweden; and many others. The author admires the history of women and is ready to defend women’s intellectual rights, citing historical examples to support her argument.
In conclusion, Sister Juana’s “Response” is a remarkable example of early feminist writing. The author defends women’s rights to study and write. Juana demonstrates her vast knowledge of the history of great women and efficiently uses these historical examples as evidence to her argument.