Feminism in Sor Juana Essay - 1191 Words

Feminism in Sor Juana In Estela Portillo Trambley’s play Sor Juana the main character Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was considered to be one of the earliest feminists. Sor Juana’s eternal struggles to study and unshakable craving for knowledge and wisdom, from whatever source it may be, support this attribute. In my opinion however, there are also significant elements of the play that suggest that Sor Juana would not be considered a true feminist. Of these reasons, there are three major ones that I will analyze. The first reason is that Sor Juana gave up her struggle for the acquirement of knowledge from books and settled for reading from religiously accepted writing, essentially giving up what she had been originally fighting for†¦show more content†¦This whole progression of events is evidence that Sor Juana was never a true feminist. Although she was an assertive and determined young woman earlier in life, Sor Juana learned to accept the way the world was, abandoned what feminist ide als she had had, and devoted her later life to pleasing God and being a good nun. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, as portrayed in Trambley’s play is only concerned with her own desires. She never shows interest in other women’s rights and she never speaks to other women about the idea of equal rights. She does not encourage her fellow females to fight to attend colleges and learn. It is like to Sor Juana, there is no such thing as another woman who desires the same things as she. To me this limits the extent to which Sor Juana could be called a feminist. She never, in any way, attempted to fight for the rights of anyone beside herself, and for no thing besides the freedom to study and become learned. It is much more applicable to refer to Sor Juana as one of the first in a sort of evolutionary linearity of what finally became feminism. At the low end of the evolutionary spectrum are characters like Sor Juana. She was forthright and assertive about what she desired, but she lacked the ability or means to organize or extend her struggle to any topic area that did not directly interest her. When Sor Juana says, â€Å"My journeyShow MoreRelatedThe Influences of Sor Juana and Julia de Burgos2050 Words   |  9 PagesInfluences of Sor Juana and Ju lia de Burgos Most every human being has encountered a time in their life when he or she has felt suppressed. However, not every person has stood up against the people and forces that have kept them oppressed. It takes a truly extraordinary person to stand up for their self and to take a stand for the greater good of others. According to Clare Booth Luce: â€Å"courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount.† The Mexican writer, Sor Juana Ines deRead More I, the Worst of All Essay2686 Words   |  11 Pagesxxiii) Lerners words hold true for two women involved in the film I, the Worst of All. Both of them had to reinvent the wheel and show their male contemporaries that women can and will find their way out from under the control of patriarchy. Juana Ines de la Cruz and Maria Luisa Bemberg are separated by three centuries of continuous strife for feminists to affirm feminine subjectivity and feminine values. The struggle was/is doubly difficult because of what they have to face. At the time of