Abstract
AbstractSor Juana Inés de la Cruz fought not only for women's right to education but also for public recognition of their intelligence. This essay locates the inception of her fight in her first suite of villancicos from 1676 written in honor of the Assumption of Mary. In this suite Sor Juana inaugurates her own Marian sapiential theology. In her theology Sor Juana most often juxtaposes herself to the female figures of Wisdom and the Virgin Mary. She makes the Virgin Mary embody Wisdom and also makes her a doctor of theology. In doing the latter, she imprints her own situation upon the work since she too was a theologian—at least in practice. Nonetheless, to dissolve any hints of heresy, she defines wisdom as a divine attribute and knowledge as an acquired understanding. Overall, Sor Juana uses herself and the two most important female figures of Christianity to project the image of an intelligent woman in Mexico's cathedral and thus validates the case for women's rights to education.
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