Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Greatest Women in History

It turned out that the hair grew quickly and I learned slowly. As a result, I cut off the hair in punishment for my head’s ignorance, for it didn’t seem right to me that a head so naked of knowledge should be dressed up with hair, for knowledge is a more desirable adornment,

—from The Reply to the Very Illustrious Sor Philotea de la Cruz, written in 1691


 Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is considered the first great Latin American poet and one of the most important Hispanic literary figures. She wrote following the complex style of the Spanish Golden Age masters, particularly Luis de Góngora y Argote, and produced some of the most beautiful sonnets in the Spanish language, while excelling also as a dramatist. 

Sor Juana was published in different parts of the Hispanic world during her lifetime and she enjoyed the reputation of being the premiere Baroque poet in New Spain (Mexico), which earned her both praise and vicious misogynistic attacks. Sor Juana was persecuted for being an intellectual and a woman, a nun, and a writer who wrote quite provocatively in the very Christian New Spain of the 1600s. 

**Special thanks for EDSITE

No comments:

Post a Comment