![]() ![]() The following year, she died after contracting the plague while aiding the sick. In 1694 she retired from her glittering literary career, sold her library and donated the proceeds to the poor. Here, Sor Juana produced works of poetry, drama and prose, which were published extensively. Her ‘cell’ was an apartment maintained by servants and slaves and she had a huge personal library containing various scientific, mathematical and musical instruments, works of art and some 4,000 books. Juana had no desire to marry, wishing instead to continue her studies the only logical path for her therefore was to become a nun. At the age of 17, 40 members of the University of Mexico questioned her on topics such as mathematics, philosophy, literature and history, and were astounded by her genius. She was known as a beautiful, precocious child prodigy who, at the age of 15, became a lady-in-waiting at the viceregal court where she entertained nobles with her poetry and works of theatre. Juana de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana was born in on November 12th, 1651, and died on April 17th, 1695. Her punishment too goes to new levels as she mortifies her own flesh, even cutting her face, and the books in her library are publicly burned by order of the Inquisition. Within this new version of events, Sor Juana’s beauty and sexuality become central to her persecution: she is torn down by bitchy female rivals as well as male authority figures. This critically acclaimed play by Helen Edmundson was written in 2012 and builds upon the existing mythology, ramping it up even further. Though she is relatively unknown in the UK, a production of The Heresy of Love, which is based on Sor Juana’s life, has been thrilling crowds at London’s Globe since the end of July. As a result, she is now known as a subversive upstart who was silenced and forced to give up her career and possessions, and her tragic death from the plague is framed as a martyr’s atonement to make up for her ‘transgressions’. Instead, the popular narrative tells us that Sor Juana was persecuted by the Inquisition for stirring up controversy. Her privileged life and the support of the Church and court have been ignored. The misrepresentation of Sor Juana's life began in the 1930s but gained traction thanks largely to Octavio Paz’s 1982 biography and the 1990 movie, I the Worst of All. Yet, despite her fame, her story has been distorted and the more that is written about her, the further we get from the true historical figure. In her native Mexico today she is celebrated as an icon: her old convent is now a university bearing her name she is the subject of a movie and many plays and novels, and she even features on the 200 peso banknote. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a 17th-century poet, playwright and nun. ![]()
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