2.1 Sor Juana & the Baroque Voice

A colonial genius

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648–1695), a nun in colonial Mexico, was a brilliant Baroque poet and an early defender of women's right to learn.

'Hombres necios'

Her famous redondillas 'Hombres necios que acusáis' accuse men of the very faults they blame on women — a sharp, witty critique of a double standard, centuries ahead of its time.

Baroque wit

Sor Juana's poetry shows Baroque conceptismo — dense wordplay, paradox, and antithesis — turning logic itself into a weapon for her argument about gender.

Key terms

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Baroque poet-nun of colonial Mexico

'Hombres necios que acusáis'

redondillas exposing a double standard against women

redondillas

an eight-syllable stanza form (abba)

conceptismo

Baroque wit: dense wordplay, paradox, antithesis

Theme

la construcción del género — how gender is constructed

Try an AP-style question

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz's "Hombres necios" criticizes…

1. the Spanish king's taxes
2. the Aztec religion
3. men's double standards toward women
4. colonial trade policy