Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: biography, works and contributions of the New Spain writer

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was the most important literary figure in New Spain, to the point of having been called the "Tenth Muse" by her contemporaries. Lezama Lima comments: "It is the first time that an American figure occupies a place of primacy in the language." She left an indelible mark not only for the excellence of her work, but for having overcome, at least to some extent, the limits imposed on women in the complex colonial period.

This period was marked by a class order with wide inequalities, which caused various indigenous rebellions in the days of Sor Juana. Now, what do we know about her life? What were the contributions of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz? What did her defense of the woman consist of?

Biography of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Juana Inés Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana, known as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, was born in San Miguel de Nepantla, Mexico, on November 12, but it is not known exactly if it was in the year 1648 or 1651. She was the natural daughter of the union between Captain Pedro Manuel Asbaje and Vargas Machuca and the Creole Isabel Ramírez Santillana.

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As a child, she demonstrated talents of genius, beginning with the fact that she learned to read at the tender age of three. It is not surprising that at the age of eight she wrote her first sacramental loa. The young woman became an exemplary self-taught person.

In 1656, Juana Inés went to live with her uncles María Rodríguez de Santillana and Juan de Mata, located in Mexico City, from where she was given a good education. During this period, she had three half-brothers named Diego, Antonia and Inés Ruiz Lozano.

In 1659 she received Latin classes with the bachelor Martín de Oliva and, in just twenty lessons, she acquired the necessary solvency, surprising everyone with her natural ingenuity. The prodigies of the intelligence of the young Juana Inés facilitate good social relations.

Juana's rise to court

In 1664, when Antonio Sebastián de Toledo, Marquis of Mancera, took the viceroyalty, Juana Inés se she makes the lady of the viceroy Dona Leonor de Carreto, the so-called "Laura" that she refers to in her poems from her. Her admiration aroused from her is such that the viceroy prepares an exam for Juana before forty university doctors, in which she surprises everyone with her keen knowledge and ingenuity.

In August 1667, Juana Inés entered the novitiate of the Convent of San José de las Carmelitas, but the iron discipline of the order, added to her health problems, made her give up at four months.

In 1668, she will see her name printed of hers for the first time with the publication of the poem "Suspend, Cantor Cisne, el dulce accent ...".

The religious profession of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

As her wife, Juana Inés had only two socially respectable options before her: marriage or consecrated life. The first would have meant the end of her intellectual life. Her convent, on the other hand, would allow him the order and calm necessary to dedicate himself to her studies.

In 1669, advised by the Jesuit Antonio Núñez de Miranda, her confessor, Juana entered the novitiate of the order of San Jerónimo and she professes as a religious, assuming the name of Sor Juana Inés de la Cross.

In her cell, Sor Juana will have about 500 volumes of books (a figure that her devout and imaginative biographer, Father Diego Calleja, exaggerates to four thousand). In addition, she will possess scientific artifacts with which she would experiment from her cell, which has become an intellectual meeting point for the New Spain elite.

In 1674, her dear friend and protector Dona Leonor de Carreto dies, to whose memory she dedicates a sonnet. During this period, she composed a series of Christmas carols that were published as anonymous until, in 1679, her signature appeared for the first time in the Christmas Carols on the Annunciation of the Holy Mary.

Under the protection of the new viceroys

In 1680 she was appointed to direct the construction of the Arc de Triomphe dedicated to the new viceroy, Tomás Antonio. de la Cerda y Aragón, Count of Paredes and Marqués de la Laguna, for whom she composed the text Neptuno Allegorico.

It will be the beginning of her friendship with the viceroys, especially with the viceroy's wife, María Luisa Gonzaga Manrique de Lara, called "Lysi" in her poems. Under her protection, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz will develop a large part of her work and will establish herself as one of the great names in Hispanic literature.

In 1682 she participated in a contest in honor of the Immaculate Conception with two works under male pseudonyms: a romance signed with the anagram of her name, Juan Saénz del Caure, and a gloss signed by Felipe Salayses Gutierrez. Both works were awarded.

However, not all were glories. In that same year, the new archbishop of Mexico, Don Francisco Aguiar de Seijas, was appointed, an openly misogynistic man who became an enemy of the writer.

On November 4, 1683, a singular event will give greater resonance to the name of Sor Juana Inés: the premiere of her first play, The efforts of a house, on the occasion of the birth of the first-born of the viceroys.

That year, the award-winning pieces by him also appeared published in a book by Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora called Triumph Parthenic. From this author he would receive high praise.

The last years of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

In 1686 Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was left without the support of the viceroys when she ceased her functions in her position, which exposed her to some difficulties. By then, Sor Juana's writing was abundant and encompassed many subjects and genres, in which humor was also involved. She had acquired new tones that made her be accused of "very profane."

In 1687, after the famous Command sermon of the Portuguese priest Antonio Vieira, Sor Juana Inés writes a strong criticism called Crisis of a sermon, which will be published in 1690 under the title of Athenagoric letter.

That same year, she received a letter from the Bishop of Puebla, Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz, signed with the pseudonym of Sister Filotea de la Cruz. In this, the bishop rebukes him for Athenagoric letter (which he himself published), and she points out the inconvenience of her, as a woman, devoting herself to writing about profane matters instead of writing about righteous devotion.

In return, between 1690 and 1691 Sor Juana Inés wrote a letter known as Reply to Sr. Filotea de la Cruz, where she defends the dignity of knowledge and the right of women to education.

In 1693 she reestablished relations with her confessor Antonio Núñez de Miranda, from whom she had moved away while she received the protection of the viceroy where de Paredes. The frequent opposition of the curia that Sor Juana Inés suffered in those years made her finally give up intellectual life and hand over her books and scientific artifacts, after which she ratified her vows in 1694.

In her last years, Sor Juana dedicated herself to caring for her sisters in her convent, at a time when the plague was raging in the city. Contaminated by this terrible disease, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz died on April 17, 1695 in Mexico City.

Style and contributions of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz refines the baroque style with density and excellence and, for this reason, she enjoyed it in life. recognition of her peers, which is verified in the numerous contemporary publications of her her work.

She had an important development in lyric, dramaturgy and prose. She masterfully used devices such as syllogisms and puns, and her work shone with versification, hyperbaton, and mythological allusions.

These allusions were not limited to the western universe, but Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz incorporated the cultural richness of a society affected by the juxtaposition of cultures. Thus, Sor Juana Inés also represented the American Indian universe in her works.

Her work always had a sobering style on the most diverse existential issues that, from the baroque gaze, were expressed in topics such as tempo fugit, the Carpe Diem, the baroque "disappointment" and the triumph of the intellect over appearance. On all topics, one was of singular notoriety: the defense and dignity of women.

Most important works of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz wrote Christmas carols, romances, praises, sonnets, redondillas, theatrical comedies, autos sacramentales and argumentative texts, among other genres. In everything she showed off her command of speech and deep knowledge of her. Here are some key works.

Loa of the Conception

It was a loa composed between 1670 and 1675 commissioned by the Guerrero family in Mexico City. In it he embodies the characters of Devotion (faith) and School (reason) who are struggling to star in or rule the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

Allegorical neptune

Written in 1680, Allegorical neptune It is a text alluding to the arrival of the new viceroy, Tomás de la Cerda y Aragón, Marquis de la Laguna, and his wife, from which he won the favor of the viceroys. It is characterized by being rich in references to Greco-Roman mythology and Ancient Egypt.

Monterrey menu

Written in 1681 and addressed to her confessor Antonio Núñez de Miranda, it is a response to the repression intellectual who suffers through the authorities and actors of the New Spain society because of his womanhood.

The efforts of a house

Premiered in 1683 on the occasion of the birth of the first-born of the viceroy Count of Paredes. It is a comedy of entanglements about the loves of the characters Leonor and Carlos, who must face the complications that arise from the opposition of the brothers Don Pedro and Doña Ana.

Divine Narcissus

Published in 1689, the Divine Narcissus It is the best-accomplished auto sacramental of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and one of the best in her genre. The Divine Narcissus is the personification of Jesus Christ who, sent by God, goes in search of his lost sheep.

Love is more maze

Theatrical comedy premiered in 1689. It is based on the myth of Theseus, a Cretan hero that Sor Juana sets up as a model of the American hero.

Athenagoric letter

Published in 1690. This letter, originally titled Crisis of a sermon, is a philosophical-theological refutation of the Command sermon of the Jesuit Antonio Vieira on the finenesses of Christ.

Reply to Sr. Filotea de la Cruz

Completed in 1691, Reply to Sr. Filotea de la Cruz It is the letter that Sor Juana writes to the Bishop of Puebla, Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz, hidden in the pseudonym of Sor Filotea de la Cruz. Sor Juana defends herself against the recriminations that she receives from her for occupying her talent in profane subjects instead of devoting herself to the divine themes typical of a religious.

The martyr of the sacrament

Published in 1692, it is an auto sacramental on the martyrdom of Saint Hermenegildo, who would have been assassinated for refusing to worship an Arian host.

Joseph's scepter

Published in 1692, it is an auto sacramental in which it represents pre-Hispanic America and the new cultural order embodied in the first missionary friars in the American continent.

First dream

Written in 1692, First dream it is the most important and emblematic poem of Sor Juana. Furthermore, it was the only work that did not respond to a commission, as was the custom at that time. In it he reflects on human nature and the desire for knowledge.

Various poems

Among Sor Juana's poems, we can point out the following:

Foolish men you accuse
Stop shadow of my elusive good
Contains a content fantasy with decent love
Sonnet XXIX - To hope, written in one of his portraits
Sonnet XVIII - Continues the same matter and determines that reason prevails over taste
That consoles a jealous epilogue the series of loves
Complain about luck: it hints at your aversion to vices and justifies your amusement to the Muses
To Christ in the Sacrament, day of communion.