Juana Inés de la Cruz
Juana Inés de la Cruz (c. 1648–1695) was a Mexican nun, poet, and scholar whose writing defended women’s intellectual capacity and right to learn.
Francisco de Aguiar y Seijas: A Spanish-born cleric who served as archbishop of Mexico from 1682 to 1698. His archiepiscopal authority shaped the controversy over Sor Juana’s intellectual work.
Baroque literature: Literature associated with the Baroque, marked by elaborate style, rhetorical complexity, and contrasts. Its intricate forms and conceits inform Sor Juana’s poetry and drama.
Respuesta a Sor Filotea de la Cruz: A 1691 letter in which Sor Juana defended her study, writing, and right to pursue knowledge. It is her clearest argument against restrictions on women’s intellectual life.
Querelle des femmes: A centuries-long European debate over women’s nature, education, and social roles. Sor Juana’s arguments belong to this wider dispute over women’s intellectual capacity.
Antonio Núñez de Miranda: A Jesuit priest and influential spiritual adviser in seventeenth-century New Spain. He was Sor Juana’s confessor and urged her to abandon secular study.
New Spain: The Spanish colonial viceroyalty that covered much of North America from 1535 to 1821. Sor Juana’s convent, court, and literary networks belonged to this colonial society.
Primero sueño: A long philosophical poem in which a soul seeks knowledge during sleep and confronts the limits of understanding. The poem displays the range of learning she defended in her prose.
Feminist literary criticism: The study of literature through attention to gender, power, and women’s representation. It has made her writings central to debates about gender and authorship.
María Luisa Manrique de Lara y Gonzaga: A Spanish noblewoman who served as vicereine of New Spain and patronized Sor Juana. Her friendship and patronage supported Sor Juana’s literary life at court.
Catholic theology: The systematic study of Catholic beliefs, doctrines, and religious practice. Its authorities and interpretive traditions shaped the limits Sor Juana confronted.