Born: 12 November 1648, Mexico
Died: 17 April 1695
Country most active: Mexico
Also known as: Sor Juana
The following is republished with kind permission from the Enciclopedia de la Literatura en México.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695) es la última gran poeta de los Siglos de Oro de la literatura en español. Su vida intelectual fue muy intensa y abarcó todos los saberes de la época. Escribió numerosos poemas líricos, cortesanos y filosóficos, comedias teatrales, obras religiosas y villancicos para las principales catedrales del Virreinato. Inscrita en el estilo barroco, su poesía es rica en complejas figuras del lenguaje, conceptos ingeniosos y referencias a la mitología grecolatina.
Durante su vida, la obra de sor Juana gozó de gran popularidad. Gracias a sus relaciones cercanas con los virreyes, fue publicada en España y leída con asombro en muchas partes del Imperio. Su poesía destaca por una deslumbrante belleza sonora, ingenio refinado y profundidad filosófica. Los siglos xviii y xix, dominados por un gusto adverso a la estética barroca, la desdeñaron, pero en el siglo xx se revaloró a sor Juana como un clásico extraordinario de la literatura hispánica.
De acuerdo con la estética renacentista de la imitación, sor Juana siguió los modelos literarios de la época y en muchos casos los superó. Sirvan de ejemplos el poema Primero sueño, la comedia Los empeños de una casa o el auto sacramental El divino Narciso, así también, Respuesta de la poetisa a la muy ilustre sor Filotea de la Cruz –normalmente presentada como Respuesta a sor Filotea de la Cruz– que es uno de los textos en prosa más importantes de toda la literatura novohispana.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695) is the last great poet of the Golden Age of Spanish literature. Her intellectual life was intense and encompassed all the knowledge of the time. She wrote numerous lyric, courtly, and philosophical poems, theatrical comedies, religious works, and Christmas carols for the main cathedrals of the Viceroyalty. Written in the Baroque style, her poetry is rich in complex figures of speech, ingenious concepts, and references to Greco-Roman mythology.
During her lifetime, Sor Juana’s work enjoyed great popularity. Thanks to her close relationships with the viceroys, it was published in Spain and read with astonishment throughout the Empire. Her poetry is distinguished by its dazzling sonorous beauty, refined wit, and philosophical depth. The 18th and 19th centuries, dominated by a taste averse to Baroque aesthetics, scorned her work, but in the 20th century, Sor Juana was reevaluated as an extraordinary classic of Hispanic literature.
In accordance with the Renaissance aesthetic of imitation, Sor Juana followed the literary models of the time and in many cases surpassed them. Examples include the poem First Dream, the comedy The Trials of a Noble House, and the religious play The Divine Narcissus, as well as the Poetess’s Response to the Very Illustrious Sor Filotea de la Cruz — usually presented as Response to Sor Filotea de la Cruz — which is one of the most important prose texts in all of New Spanish literature.
The following is excerpted from “400 Outstanding Women of the World and the Costumology of Their Time” by Minna Moscherosch Schmidt, published in 1933.
She was a famous writer, poetess, and Mexican latinist, called in her time the “poetic genius.” This celebrity was born in the village of San Miguel Nepantla, near Amecameca, on November 12, 1651. Her father was a well to do Spaniard who had settled in Mexico. His name was Manuel de Asbaje. He married a beautiful Mexican woman, her name was Isabel Ramirez de Cantillana. They had several children, one of them was Juana Ines, a beautiful child. At the age of three she was able to read. At the age of eight, in order to win a book given as a prize, she wrote a poem that attracted the attention of all the persons that read it. She asked her parents for their permission to go to Mexico City until they finally agreed, realizing that her intelligence would have a very ample field in that city, where she lived in the care of her grandfather, who had a large library composed of books pertaining to arts and science, all of which were read by her. This fact being incredible for she was only nine years old at the time.
After a few years she acquired a vast knowledge of Latin, several other languages, rhetoric, logic, philosophy, theology, mathematics, law, history, poetry, architecture and music, all of which she mastered. The vast knowledge aforesaid made her famous among those whom she knew. At that time she entered the Palace of the Viceroy and was given the title of “Very Dear to the Viceroys” In these circumstances she became the wonder of the Colonial Court. She held many controversies with the writers of the time in which she always was victorious. When her glory was shining brighter than ever, and much to the surprise of everyone, she decided to enter a convent, where she dedicated herself to painting and music. Both arts she mastered with near perfection. Two of her most famous books are Amor es Laberinto and Los empenos de una casa. After twenty-seven years in the convent she sold her books and many manuscripts and distributed the money among the poor. She died on the 17th day of April, 1695, from an epidemic that was taking many lives over the city.
IW note: her close relationship with Countess Maria Luisa de Paredes, vicereine of Mexico, may have been romantic in nature, based on love poems she wrote to the countess.