Sor Juana Sparknotes

Sor Juana challenges the convection that women cannot have the desire to covet knowledge. Throughout her life Sor Juana has reached for more and more knowledge despite the fact that the education she desired was exclusive to males. She taught her self to read and write using books as her teacher. Sor Juana challenged many conventions through her writing and how she became who she was. Since she was not an elite Spanish woman making her education unusual. However, by joining the Covent Sor Juana gained the autonomy to explore her intellectual curiosities. She wanted to read about more than religious scriptures, she was intrigued by philosophy and poetry. In a ‘Letter from Sor Filotea’ Sor Juana is told to redirect her writing to subjects more appropriate for a nun like “reading the book of Jesus Christ”. Fr. Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz is meaning to say that Sor Juana is reading and writing about subjects that are not appropriate to an obedient nun. He boldly states that she should pay more gratitude to god for her gift of ‘clarity’ by engaging in useful scholarly pursuit that are centered on achieving eternal life. Fr. Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz is clearly attacking Sor Juana as he begins to quote those the church believed to have lusted for knowledge and drawing comparisons to Sor Juana’s quest for
This placed her in a political stance in opposition to the church because she was a woman indulging in scientific endeavors. In the film Yo, la Peor de Todas she asks the archbishop what revelation authorizes him to exclude women from pursuing knowledge. Sor Juana is directly challenging the ‘Ideal Woman’ of the time by bringing to the light the double standards women are forced to adhere to. She goes as far as saying that if she were not a women there would be no problem in her digression from theological