Sor Juana: Or, the Traps of Faith

by Octavio Paz, Margaret Sayers Peden (Translator)

Mexico's leading poet, essayist, and cultural critic writes of a Mexican poet of another time and another world, the world of seventeenth-century New Spain. His subject is Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the most striking figure in all of Spanish-American colonial literature and one of the great poets of her age.

Her life reads like a novel. A spirited and precocious girl, one of six illegitimate children, is sent to live with relatives in the capital city. She becomes known for her beauty, wit, and amazing erudition, and is taken into the court as the Vicereine's protegee. For five years she enjoys the pleasures of life at court--then abruptly, at twenty, enters a convent for life. Yet, no recluse, she transforms the convent locutory into a literary and intellectual salon; she amasses an impressive library and collects scientific instruments, reads insatiably, composes poems, and corresponds with literati in Spain. To the consternation of the prelates of the Church, she persists in circulating her poems, redolent more of the court than the cloister. Her plays are performed, volumes of her poetry are published abroad, and her genius begins to be recognized throughout the Hispanic world. Suddenly she surrenders her books, forswears all literary pursuits, and signs in blood a renunciation of secular learning. The rest is silence. She dies two years later, at forty-six.

Octavio Paz has long been intrigued by the enigmas of Sor Juana's personality and career. Why did she become a nun? How could she renounce her lifelong passion for writing and learning? Such questions can be answered only in the context of the world in which she lived. Paz gives a masterly portrayal of the life and culture of New Spain and the political and ideological forces at work in that autocratic, theocratic, male-dominated society, in which the subjugation of women was absolute.

Just as Paz illuminates Sor Juana's life by placing it in its historical setting, so he situates her work in relation to the traditions that nurtured it. With critical authority he singles out the qualities that distinguish her work and mark her uniqueness as a poet. To Paz her writings, like her life, epitomize the struggle of the individual, and in particular the individual woman, for creative fulfillment and self-expression.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Poetry, History, Spanish Literature, Feminism, Religion

547 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1982

About the author

Octavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature ("for impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity.")

Reviews

[Mauricio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excepto por algunas páginas en la que Paz abusa de su dialéctica poética, todo lo demás vale muchísimo la pena: la interpretación historica, el ambiente social en que se desarrolló su vida y principalmente la descripción que hace Paz de las ideas que antecedieron a su momento. La crsis que Sor Juana vivió hacia el final de su vida es casi novelesco, cuando se debilita la protección del virrey y se ve sometida a las presiones del arzobispo de México, del obispo de Puebla ("Sor Filotea") y de su confesor, Antonio Nuñez de Miranda. Además vale mucho la pena la lectura que hace de la historiografía crítica sobre Sor Juana. Yo lo recomiendo.

[John Kulm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know about the author, Octavio Paz, until I found this book. A friend who noticed me reading it said, "Oh! Octavio Paz!" in a tone that made me think the author is bigger than his subject. His writing explained things about culture and the arts that I'd never considered. Very cool author; very tragic subject.

“The life and work of Juana Ines can be summed up in a single sentence: Knowledge is a transgression committed by a solitary hero who then is punished.” - Octavio Paz

[Dusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sor Juana: Or, the Traps of Faith is an important piece of Mexican literary history: Where else, in just one tome, will you find the country's second-best poet paying homage to its first-best poet? Nevermind that the book is eternally long (it's curious that a so-called biography on Sor Juana is only a hundred pages shorter than my volume of her complete works) and in a lot of ways is more about Paz and his views on poetry and nationhood (really, we know so little about Sor Juana; much of Paz's "biography" would be better termed "educated speculation"). Sorjuanistas, especially of the feminist variety, have problems with some of Paz's interpretations; indeed, it's fair to note that Mexico's lone Nobel-winner has particular and sometimes peculiar perspectives on Latin America and what constitutes literary merit, and he perhaps overextends the connection he sees between the nun and (pursued) 20th century figures he admires like, say, Leon Trotsky. Anyway, after spending five months reading the book, I feel like I should have wiser, more profound thoughts. Suffice it to say, if you're committed to Sor Juana, Octavio Paz or Mexican poetry, you'd be a fool to pass up this essential volume.

[Rafael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Los homenajes a Paz -a diez años de su muerte- me han hecho, ahora, recordar la lectura de Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz o las trampas de la fe. Leí el libro, regalo de Martha Ordaz, en 1997. Martha, siempre atenta, me invitó a desayunar al Samborns de los Azulejos y acabado el desayuno me dijo: Quiero regalarte un libro, escoge. Ví el de Paz, que tenía ganas de leer y me lo dio. Fue un regalo oportunísimo. Tenía en esa época ganas y necesidad de una lectura así.
Al día siguiente del regalo salí de vacaciones con mis hijos, primero a Ixtapa y luego a Tequisquiapan. Durante esos días estuve leyendo el libro de Paz. Me levantaba temprano, corría por la playa o por las veredas de caballos de Tequisquiapan, al regreso me bañaba, desayunaba y me ponía a leer. En la carrera de cada mañana iba recordando la lectura del día anterior y viendo la trascendencia de lo escrito por Paz, más allá de la biografía de Sor Juana, como un ensayo filosófico, donde su autor iba desarrollando conceptos universales.
Realicé la lectura del libro con un marcador amarillo en la mano y un lápiz. Con el marcador señalaba las frases que me llamaban la atención, por alguna razón; con el lápiz comentaba a veces en el margen del libro alguna idea de Paz, o la rebatía, como por ejemplo su opinión sobre la ciencia de Sigüenza y Góngora. Mariana, que me veía escribir en el libro me preguntó: ¿Papá por qué rayas el libro? Por que es conversar con el autor, le contesté. En algún momento dejé el libro al lado de la silla de playa en la que estaba leyendo y me metí a la alberca, cuando salí, ví escrito en la última página del libro, con el mismo lápiz, que yo usaba, la frase: Escribir en los libros es dialogar con los autores. Era la letra de Mariana.
El libro, con esta frase de mi hija, con todos sus subrayados y mis comentarios esta en mi recámara, en uno de los libreros laterales. A veces cuando estoy cansado, tomo el libro, lo abro al azar y leo algunas de las frases subrayadas, me relajo y lo vuelvo a cerrar.
Para compartir de alguna manera esa lectura entrañable, copio aquí algunas de las frases que subrayé y algún comentario. Espero que tengan sentido en sí mismas estas frases sacadas del contexto del libro, que hablan de la política, de la creatividad, de la literatura, del amor y de la soledad del artista. Temas, todos, que tocaban muy de cerca a Paz, sin duda y a los cuales la figura egregia de Sor Juana dio motivo literario. Espero las encuentren interesantes:
• “Pluralismo, patrimonialismo y equilibrio de fuerzas: ningún virrey de Nueva España tuvo el poder que tiene el presidente de México”. P. 41
• “La puerta por donde salen las divinidades es la puerta de entrada de otras divinidades”. P. 52
• Las paranomasias: “El Inglés con frascos frescos/ ebrio con su baba beba/ y haga de la gula gala/ que con él se trata treta”.P.83
• “El mundo de los libros es un mundo de elegidos” P. 117
• “El conocimiento es una trasgresión cometida por un héroe solitario que luego será castigado”. Anoté: Paz pensando en sí mismo. P.124
• “Aunque originado en el cuerpo e indisolublemente ligado a él, la esencia del amor es espiritual” P.137
• “El tema de la gloria en la derrota”. Anoté: León Felipe en el Canto a mí mismo. P 160
• “Sosegado y mediocre, como deben ser, según Chuang Tseu, los buenos gobiernos”. P189
• “Es Marqués vocablo celta que quiere decir prefecto de los caballeros” P. 229
• “El signo inequívoco de todas las decadencias es la pérdida de un proyecto nacional” P. 247
• “Ficino inventó la expresión amor platónico y fue el primero que formuló en términos filosóficos y sicológicos esta variedad del amor”. P. 279
• “La poesía consigue lo más difícil, ser inteligente y apasionada”. Anoté: Vale para las personas también. P. 301
• “El cuerpo deseado se vuelve fantasma, el fantasma encarna en presencia intocable”. Anoté. ¡Que gacho! P. 303
• “El ingenio, hecho de inteligencia y y sesnsibilidad, es una la facultad que descubre las relaciones secretas entre las cosas y las ideas y que acierta con la forma única que las expresa” P.369
• “El impedimento no es su feminidad sino ser el alma prisonera del cuerpo” P. 497
• “Bruno se regocijaba con la idea de un universo infinito y en esa idea hay un eco de Platón: todo lo que es, aun lo malo, es bueno. Una y otra vez se repite: no hya diferencias, todo es centro y todo es circunferencia. Anoté: Borges: Homero y Argos. P.502
• “Pasión retórica, enamorada de sí misma”. P.515
• “El señor que ha llovido tan abundantemente beneficios positivos en lo natural sobreV.md” Anoté: uso interesante de un verbo defectivo. P. 519
• “Si la humildad es muchas veces máscara de la soberbia, ¿qué decir de la castidad?” Anoté P y R. P. 530
• “ Su caridad era despótica, su humildad soberbia y su castidad una débauche mental” (Se refiere al retrato que hace Lezamis del arzobispo Aguiar y Seijas) P. 532
• “La distinción siempre acarrea castigos” Anoté: La Conjura de los Necios. Kennedy. P 545
• “La soberbia que se transforma insensiblemente en rebeldía” P. 555
• “La imaginación es la facultad de descubrir en lo semejante lo único y distinto: la gran limitación- iba a escribir: el pecado- de espíritus como Nuéz de Miranda es justamente la falta de imaginación. Esa es también su gran fuerza.” Anoté: La fuerza es en realidad la falta de imaginación de los demás. P. 591

[Emmanuel Medina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Las Trampas de la Fe" de Octavio Paz es un ensayo luminoso y valiente sobre una mujer que, escondida tras el hábito impuesto por la sociedad mexicana novohispana, le regaló a México identidad, poesía y astucia por partes iguales. Un obra maestra que desvela a Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, como mariposa, con la paciencia de un entomólogo de la lengua que sólo la mirada aguda y la palabra precisa del Nobel mexicano podría lograr. Ensayo tanto o más importante para entender el desarrollo de la nación mexicana como lo es "El Laberinto de la Soledad", en estas trampas, Paz desvela que la vocación del arte es, en nuestra tierra, un tesoro casi inagotable e inaccesible, pero a la vez creíble y deslumbrante gestado en la soledad de una celda de una monja de clausura.

[Juan Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Increíble la lucidez de Paz y la claridad para expresar sus ideas, este libro es una cátedra para nuestros ilustres “intelectuales” mexicanos contemporáneos, aquí pueden aprender cómo se deben de hacer las cosas.
En cuanto a sor Juana, fascinante la mujer que nos presenta Paz, una mujer muy mujer, un personaje profundo y complejo, una mujer real de carne y hueso y no la absurda caricatura feministoide que muchos escritores y sobre todo escritoras mexicanas se empeñan en construir alrededor de ella.
Ojalá que en algún momento México pueda volver a tener escritores del nivel de sor Juana Inés y Octavio Paz.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sort of book that made me want to study literature in college. Very little is known about Sor Juana's life, but Paz makes the seventeenth-century Mexican nun come alive through historical interpretation, psychological speculations, and very close readings of many of her poems. The book is based on his lecture courses at Harvard and the Colegio Nacional.
Paz's Sor Juana is a female intellectual who makes the life of the mind a vocation as full as the life of a religious:
"If there is such a thing as a feminine temperament, in the most arresting sense of the word, it is that of Sor . She fascinates us because the most extreme oppositions come together in her without ever completely blending. Perhaps this is the secret of her compelling vitality: few beings are as alive as she -- after being buried for centuries." (p. 112)
"...the admirable coherence and unity of those poems show that they were a response to her psychological and intellectual circumstances -- her cloistered life and character -- and her need to transcend those circumstances and to justify her life and her vocation...The obstinacy with which she insisted on being herself, her skill and her tact in surmounting obstacles, her fidelity to her inner voices, the secret and proud pertinacity that allowed her to bend without breaking, none of this was rebellion -- impossible in her time and her situation -- but it was (and is) an example of intelligence and will in the service of internal freedom." (p. 297)
Paz reminds us that Sor Juana's historic distance (the mythology, pre-Galilean astrology and medieval medical notions) merely masks a sensibility that can move and inform us today.
"I believe that modern psychological theories have merely replaced a set of fantastic principles (humors, stars, spirits, affinities, and antipathies) with others no less fantastic (complexes, compulsions, the unconscious, archetypes). In a certain way, psychology today is nothing more than a translation of Renaissance psychology into modern scientific terms." (p. 205)

[Sapiputih · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book confirms Octavio Paz' place as the leading thinker of 20th Century Western Civilization, and explains why his memorial service at The Metropolitan Museum in New York attracted a 2-mile long line that snaked around Central Park

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

During a pandemic, you should read a book about a nun.

I liked some of this 4 stars and some of this 2 stars. The 4-star parts are the history parts and the recreation of her life and story parts. His ruminations on Baroque helped clarify is significance for me: the opposites that have within them their own dissolution, the excess which is also a comment on itself and its own decadence. And his interpretation of New Spain feels accurate. One of the things that it is difficult to convey to students about the colonial period is that Progress wasn't always everyone's goal, that change was not to be desired for a great many societies, especially ones like orthodox Spain and its realms. The idea that other values can motivate culture and action: the solidity, the permanence of tradition (OK, it's not permanent, but neither is EVERYTHING in flux with a focus on Progress). And I liked his attempt to write something historical but also imaginative and blending genres.

I think he does a fairly good job of recreating New Spain. The formal intolerance coupled with lax enforcement. The sumptuousness of the court, the worldly convent with visitors and letters and study and private chambers with books and jewels and maids.

The poetry part was lost on me. I don't mean HER poetry--that was fine and good. But his analysis of it: most of this boiled down to "this is good because I as an author and cultural producer say so because I have good taste." The ranking of artists has always left me cold--who cares? I don't think someone using his/her own taste as the basis for what is "good" or "better" has any real point. They mean they like it because they like it and because they like themselves they say that their opinion is valuable. He painstakingly goes through her influences and other writers of the time, but not being well-versed in these other folks I can't really say if it means anything or is valuable. Not my discipline. Not my circus, not my monkeys. When he DOES talk about my monkeys, however, he does a good job with them. I guess the point would be this book has many different threads, and I only got something out of some of them, mostly at the beginning and end.

I think he mostly avoids being condescending in his assessment of her work as a woman and as someone whose sexuality has received LOTS of study. Occasionally he comes across as chauvinistic, but I think he does a good job pointing out that love and attraction and friendship can look different at different ages and it doesn't mean we need to reduce another age's standards or ideas to our own. As for her feminism and the importance of her gender to understanding her place in society, if anything he mentions this TOO much. What I mean is, mostly what he had to say was that women had it hard in New Spain and Sor Juana's life was no exception. There's not a lot of nuance to his understanding of what made/makes being a woman difficult: it's hard because society says that women should know their place and because men (a lot of times misogynistic men) have power and use that power to stay in power. I think one thing that his portrait of her shows, even though he never states this explicitly, is that she wasn't a feminist in the sense of wanting equality for women in general. She wanted it for HERSELF. Her desire to continue her studies and to justify them are for HER. She writes her lists of learned women from the past to add her own name to that list. Paz points out that any human being is unique and is only knowable to a certain point: I think So Juana would agree with him. She is solitary, removed, even before the renunciation of letters at the end of her life.

Here is a passage I liked and would aspire to, without, again, the renunciation at the end: "Her house became as large as the world because it held a library and a collection of rare objects from the four corners of the earth....A realm at once spatial and temporal, concrete and imaginary; a realm in which the world, transformed into a collection, lost its hostility, reduced to a series of random and marvelous objects. The collection neutralized the world, turned it into a toy. She could admire each of these objects, venerate it as a center of magnetic radiation, caress it like a lover, rock it like a child, study it, take it apart, or throw it out the window." (247) And yet as I reread this and transcribe it, the selfishness of the attitude strikes me, the hoarding of beautiful things for the sake of possessing and knowing them. That somewhat diminishes my enjoyment of imagining this life for her, for myself. But I think the larger point would be that she seems like a hoarder because she in part HAD to be, if she wanted a life of letters. She made what she could: illegitimate, with no real ties to her father, no prospects for marriage (and not really wanting to marry), with the pressure of spiritual advisors that she could continue her studies as a nun, she made what life for herself she could. And she didn't just hoard her knowledge. She used it to make beautiful things that touched people's lives.

I guess I struggle with the same central tension that Paz says Sor Juana possessed: the desire to know and perceive and connect ideas and systems while knowing the immensity and impossibility of the task. And the tension between a solitary life of knowing and studying and the connection to others. He mentions self-loathing and narcissism in the same sentence. It's a powerful struggle.

I like this book because it made me think of lots of things. And I like its bending of genres and his acknowledgement of the limitations of history and documentation and the tightrope an author walks in attempting to illuminate subjects from the past, not erring too far on the side of history and society nor too far on the side of personality and genius.

[Joseluisrg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Con todo el rigor histórico y lingüístico sumado a la profundidad analítica y asociativa que caracteriza a nuestro premio Nobel, Paz nos envuelve en un viaje por el tiempo, por las emociones y letras que rodearon a Juana Ines para dar un retrato fiel (o el más fiel) de nuestra poetisa mexicana. Paz analiza tambien las razones por las que Sor Juana es única en su contexto y en el nuestro y de como aportó elementos únicos para "restituirla" en la literatura universal.

[Harry Allagree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't an easy book to read, for a lot of reasons. I found Octavio Paz a wonderful writer, but I hadn't expected such an extensive analysis of poetry & Spanish literature, etc. His is a very scholarly & balanced treatment. One of the fascinating treasures of the book is his tracing of Mexican history: from the ancient peoples, through the coming of the Spanish, the development of New Spain, and how this affected & formed the existing Republic of Mexico; and his thorough explanation of the social, cultural, civil & religious milieu into which Sor Juana was born and lived. But it takes some time & effort plowing through!

His subject, Juana Ramírez de Asbaje, later Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651-1695), is a fascinating woman on many levels, yet a most curious person. The non-existence of first-hand sources, other than a good bit of her writings, prevents one from being able to establish a clear identity. One thing is for certain, though: she made her mark on Mexican literary history, and if her most recently (as of 1981) discovered letter is a measure of her personality, she was exceedingly remarkable. The letter, written to her longtime/sometime spiritual director, Jesuit Fr. Antonio Núñez de Miranda, is a breathtaking open & honest confrontation by a 17th century Mexican woman of a very rigid, controlling typical 17th century powerful prelate, whom she actually loved & respected. I'd urge any woman who is serious about both her own womanhood & religious faith to read it.

Obviously, reading Sor Juana's published works, preferably in Spanish, would be the logical followup to Octavio Paz's very fine book.

[MacK · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know you're in for a beautiful biography when the text itself is as compelling as the subject matter. Having a nobel laureate like Octavio Paz write your autobiography is like having Vincent Van Gogh paint your house. The fact that Sor Juana's life also happens to be a thrilling blend of literary brilliance and political intrigue merely serves to give Paz a more complete arsenal with which to craft a great piece of non-fiction, whether or not you have the least bit of knowledge or interest in this field, you will not regret sampling the works of two great authors.

[Sofía Hincapie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una de las obras más ambiciosas se Octavio Paz. No solo contribuye a la historia de méxico, sino también atribuye gran valor a la historia de la lucha de la mujer.

Octavio Paz ha analizado a profundidad las condiciones de la mujer, desde una perspectiva humana, moderna, cercana y conmovedora.

Re significa los silencios, los jeroglíficos y las alegorías que nos dejó la madre Sor Juana Inés, dilucidando cómo la sombra, el misterio y la ausencia seducen bajo el velo de la luz.

A sor Juana, mi completa gratitud.

[Pilar · Rating 5 out of 5]

El autor, el poeta y ensayista mexicano Octavio Paz, realiza un estudio sobre Juana Inés Ramírez/sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, muy bien documentado y, en mi opinión, bastante objetivo en sus hipótesis sobre la vida y obra de la mexicana Juana Inés.

[richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm infatuated with Sor Juana Inez

[Nenad Knezevic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still the best Sor Juana biography out there.

[Jorge Antonio Olvera Mateos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will never forget two names: Hermes Trismegisto and Athanasius Kircher... The best essay by Paz that I´ve read!

[Andrés · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 estrellas no son suficientes para calificar esta obra. Impecablemente escrita, muestra la erudición de Octavio Paz en todo su esplendor...

[Otto Cuauhtémoc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jaja me siento bien raro: detesto a Paz por violento, machista y racista. Aún con eso me aventuraré a decir, que escribió un gran ensayo sobre Sor Juana (¿o lo escribió Elena Garro tras bambalinas eh) y muy lucido. Tantos datos que desconocía de Sor Juana. Me parece bien curioso como la tenemos hasta en los billetes mexicanos y casi todo México ha oído sobre la monja, pero realmente no sabemos más allá de ella. Es increíble toda la vida y obra de Juana Inés. Yo resumiría el libro en “Arriba Sor Juana, la poesía y teología, y que csm el obispo Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz” en verdad el obispo, no soportó.

[c2o library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sor Juana (1648-1695), satu figur soliter penuh kontradiksi di Meksiko abad ke-17: Biarawati dan enigma erotika; wanita yang handal dalam budaya, politik dan bisnis; penulis, pujangga dan intelektual otodidak yang selalu haus pengetahuan; pejuang kesetaraan hak wanita dan kebebasan berpikir kritis di bawah perlindungan sekaligus pengawasan gereja.

Terlahir di luar nikah, karena kecerdasannya ia menjadi favorit Vicereine, bergaul di lingkungan kerajaan dan menerima berbagai courtship. Tiba-tiba dia memilih kehidupan dalam biara: mengubah sel kamarnya menjadi ruang studi penuh berisi buku, karya seni, instrumen ilmiah, dan mengubah lokasi biara menjadi semacam ruang publik (salon) yang hidup dengan diskusi sastra dan intelektual. Dia menulis puisi roman, syair dan irama lagu, komedi profan, puisi sakral, esai teologi, dan argumen hak-hak perempuan untuk belajar dan berkembang. Karya-karyanya dipentaskan dan diterbitkan di hampir seluruh daerah dominasi Spanyol—separuh dari dunia Barat saat itu.

Buku ini adalah hasil usaha Octavio Paz dalam memadukan sejarah dan puisi, dan Paz melengkapinya dengan informasi komprehensif mengenai proses penggalian dan penulisan sejarah Sor Juana selama ini, informasi sumber-sumber yang ada—keterbatasan dan tendensi-tendensi obskuritasnya, surat Response dari Sor Juana terhadap pembisuannya, serta istilah sastra Spanyol yang digunakan. Sangat direkomendasikan.

Ulasan lengkapnya: http://c2o-library.net/2010/07/sor-ju...

Terima kasih kepada Ismail Ilmi, kawan kami di Bali, atas bukunya :)

[DROPPING OUT · Rating 5 out of 5]

The late Octavio Paz (Nobel laureate in Literature, 1990) believed very much in a Mexican identity, an identity separate and apart from other Latin American countries, and Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz was an important personality in this regard. Her intelligence, her literary production, even her spirituality, placed her both within Spain's colonial empire, but without.

The volume was derived from the research Paz did in preparing a series of lectures at Harvard University in the 1980s. While basing himself on the critical scholarship of others, his conclusions reveal his genius, for the clear subtext of the premier Mexican poet of the 20th century was that Sor Juana, who lived in the 17th century, was the bedrock upon which he based himself.

It is not an easy read for the casual reader because Paz went to great lengths to portray not only Sor Juana but the world in which she lived.

Sor Juana has, of late, become something of a feminist hero - a highly single woman in a male-dominated world, an artist whose works surpassed the men's, a woman who chose the company of other women.

Fortunately Paz chose not to go into such a closed reading of an individual who was clearly a genius.

[BJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

(written in 1998 in response to Sor Juana).

How would it be to have such an intense desire to learn and understand, knowing what good it can bring humanity and religion, and at the same time, feeling guilty for picking up a book to engage it? Doing that for an entire lifetime, no wonder she died with a guilty conscience and a belief that she was the "worst in the world". I'd like to say what a waste--but then I again I tend to believe that if learning wasn't forbidden than she might not have had such temptation to do it. What a horrible paradox! Our perception being the only distinction between a chore and a privilege.

[Pilar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnífico estudio sobre Juana Inés Ramírez/sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, muy bien documentado y, en mi opinión, bastante objetivo en sus hipótesis sobre la vida y obra de la mexicana Juana Inés.

Al final del estudio, en un apéndice fechado en 1983, y escrito también por Octavio Paz, éste introduce y comenta una carta de Sor Juana a su ex-confesor, Antonio Núñez de Miranda, para romper con él, que es una muestra de la lucha de sor Juana por reivindicar sus derechos como persona frente al poder eclesiástico.

[Omar Arenax]

Lo comencé pero no lo he terminado, lo retomaré desde el comienzo y ahora si serás parte de mi historia. Amén

SÍLABAS LAS ESTRELLAS COMPONGAN

Finalmente después de 2 intentos eres parte de mi historia mon amour.

Una investigación muy completa del sr Paz sobre la vida y obra de Sor Juana, recomendado, con la salvedad que tienen que clavarse en el contexto histórico de la nueva España del ese tiempo, en ocasiones tedioso.

[Juana Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently read some books about the life of Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz. I am extradionary amaze about the life of Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz as a catholic nun and her writting. I do believe her writting it is very powerful since she emphasis the importance to women have the rigth to get an education. She is not only wrote poems but also sonnets, plays,and diaologues. I find her writting very inspiring myself as a latina who is trying get her education.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book, The writing is incredible and the story of Sor Juana is amazing. Life in the convent, her writing her position in court all of this make this book very interesting if not a quick read.

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

La biografía de mi Poetisa favorita, en castellano, escrita por una leyenda incomparable e iremplasable: Octavio Paz. Si pudiera le diera 20 estrellas. Solamente lo he leído una vez, cuando recién lo compre, y espero el día de volverlo a devorar.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

He explores the world of Sor Juana's poetry and does a wonderful job of
transporting us back in time.

[Lwebb · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times reads like a text book and occasionally loses sight of the subject, but it's a fascinating character study.

[Gladys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesante ensayo que expone tanto la vida de Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz como a la sociedad en la que vive. El genio de Sor Juana queda manifiesto en su obra literaria así como en su actitud personal