Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
1651-1695
Notes on life and work
Inéz Ramírez de Asbaje was the illegitimate child of a Basque man named Pedro Manuel de Asbaje y Vargas Machusa and a criollo (of Spanish parentage but born in the new world) woman named Isabel Ramírez. Her mother was illiterate, but she was a strong businesswoman who ran a farm most of her life . Sor Juana became a nun to both further her studies and to keep herself out of the bonds of marriage in addition to her devotion to God . Her writings, all written in Spanish, seems to be a continuous negotiation for Native Mexicans, for women both inside and outside of the church, and for fair treatment of women as artists. All of these pleas are made not only in the Spanish language, but her poetic forms are traditional baroque or other European styles, and her plays (and other works) draw from Greek or Roman mythology.
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