Juana Inés de la Cruz

📷 Wikimedia Commons — domaine public — Fray Miguel de Herrera — 2019

1651 — 1695

Empire espagnol

LiteratureMusicSciencesDramaturgeEarly Modern17th century — Baroque era, Spanish colonization of the Americas, Catholic Counter-Reformation

A nun, poet, and playwright from New Spain (colonial Mexico), Juana Inés de la Cruz is considered the first great female writer of Latin America. A brilliant self-taught scholar, she championed women's right to education and knowledge.

Famous Quotes

« ¿En perseguirme, Mundo, qué interesas? / ¿En qué te ofendo, cuando sólo intento / poner bellezas en mi entendimiento / y no mi entendimiento en las bellezas? »

« Hombres necios que acusáis / a la mujer sin razón, / sin ver que sois la ocasión / de lo mismo que culpáis. »

Key Facts

Born around 1651 in San Miguel Nepantla, in New Spain (present-day Mexico)
Entered the Hieronymite convent in Mexico City in 1669 in order to pursue her studies freely
Published her major work 'Primero Sueño' (First Dream), a philosophical poem on the pursuit of knowledge, around 1685
Wrote the 'Respuesta a Sor Filotea' in 1691, a defense of women's right to education
Died in 1695 while caring for her fellow sisters during an epidemic

Works & Achievements

Primero Sueño (c. 1685)

A long philosophical poem in silva verse, inspired by Góngora's Soledades, describing the soul's journey through universal knowledge during sleep. It is Juana Inés's most ambitious and personal work, often compared to The Divine Comedy.

Respuesta a Sor Filotea de la Cruz (1691)

An autobiographical letter-essay addressed to the Bishop of Puebla, in which Juana Inés defends women's right to education and intellectual life. Considered one of the earliest feminist texts in the Americas.

Redondillas (Hombres necios…) (c. 1689)

A satirical poem in quatrains denouncing the hypocrisy of men who blame women for the very behaviors they themselves encourage. One of the most widely quoted texts in Hispanic literature.

El divino Narciso (1689)

An auto sacramental (allegorical liturgical play) that transposes the myth of Narcissus into a Christian theological context while incorporating elements of Aztec culture. A masterpiece of Hispanic-American Baroque theater.

Los empeños de una casa (1683)

A three-act comedy of intrigue, inspired by Calderón de la Barca, performed in Mexico City to celebrate the viceroy's birthday. It showcases Juana Inés's mastery of comic and courtly drama.

Inundación castálida (collection) (1689)

Her first collection, published in Madrid, bringing together lyric poems, villancicos, and dramatic works. Its publication in the imperial capital established Juana Inés as the greatest Spanish-language poet of her era.

Anecdotes

At the age of three, Juana Inés followed her older sister to school uninvited and learned to read within a few weeks by imitating the lessons. She then begged her mother to let her disguise herself as a boy to attend the University of Mexico, from which women were excluded.

Around the age of eight, she composed a loa (a short dramatic poem) in honor of the Blessed Sacrament, earning her a reputation as a prodigy throughout the viceroyalty. The Viceroy of New Spain, impressed, summoned forty scholars and theologians to question her — the young girl answered every one of their questions with remarkable ease.

After entering the Convent of San Jerónimo in Mexico City in 1669, Juana Inés assembled a personal library of more than four thousand volumes, one of the largest in all of colonial America. Her cell also served as a laboratory where she conducted scientific experiments in physics and music.

In 1690, the Bishop of Puebla published one of her theological critiques without her permission, under the pseudonym 'Sor Filotea.' He attached a letter advising her to devote herself to prayer rather than scholarship. Juana Inés responded with her famous Respuesta, an eloquent defense of women's right to education and one of the earliest feminist texts in the Americas.

Under pressure from her ecclesiastical superiors, Juana Inés ultimately sold her library and scientific instruments in 1693, apparently giving up writing altogether. She died two years later while nursing her fellow sisters during a plague epidemic, at just forty-four years old.

Primary Sources

Respuesta a Sor Filotea de la Cruz (1691)

¿Qué podemos saber las mujeres sino filosofías de cocina? [...] Pues ¿qué os pudiera contar, Señora, de los secretos naturales que he descubierto estando guisando?

Primero Sueño (c. 1685)

Piramidal, funesta, de la tierra nacida sombra, al Cielo encaminaba de vanos obeliscos punta altiva.

Hombres necios que acusáis (Redondillas) (c. 1689)

Hombres necios que acusáis a la mujer sin razón, sin ver que sois la ocasión de lo mismo que culpáis.

El divino Narciso (auto sacramental) (1689)

Human Nature, dressed as a Mexican indigenous woman, represents the soul's search for the divine through pre-Hispanic rites.

Key Places

San Miguel Nepantla, Mexico

Village in New Spain where Juana Inés was born in 1651. Its Nahuatl name, Nepantla, means "in the middle" — a symbolic coincidence for a woman who lived between two worlds, colonial and indigenous.

Convent of San Jerónimo, Mexico City

The place where Juana Inés spent most of her adult life, from 1669 until her death in 1695. Her cell there served at once as library, scientific laboratory, and literary workshop.

Viceregal Palace (Palacio Virreinal), Mexico City

The heart of colonial power where Juana Inés lived as a lady-in-waiting before entering the convent. It was here that she impressed forty scholars and forged connections with the intellectual circles of the capital.

Puebla de los Ángeles, Mexico

Episcopal city from which Bishop Fernández de Santa Cruz published Juana Inés's Carta atenagórica in 1690, triggering the most serious intellectual and spiritual crisis of her life.

Madrid, Spain

Capital of the Spanish empire where Juana Inés's first collection, Inundación castálida (1689), was published, earning her an international reputation during her own lifetime.