Finally, the last three chapters explore the Catholic framework of the Respuesta, Sor Juana’s apologia, from the model of Augustine’s Confessions to the nun- writer’s Imitatio Christi. The nun-writer’s critique of a sermon by the Jesuit Antonio Vieira on Christ’s demonstrations of love, the Carta atenagórica, is the subject of chapter 5. Chapters 4 and 5 are the most insightful, as the author examines Sor Juana’s distinctive interpretation of the Virgin’s agency in her often overlooked devotional texts, Ejercicios de la Encamación and Ofrecimientos de los Dolores, a position more overtly expressed in her villancicos (carols). Chapter 3 discusses the nun-writer’s sacramental dramas and accompanying loas, with specific attention given to the role of the Eucharist in the conversion of the indigenous populations. Chapter 2 examines the Neptuno alegórico in light of political and divine power. The opening and closing chapters of this book briefly recount Sor Juana’s life story. The latter, an uncommon appellation for Sor Juana, stems from the author’s examination of the religious components of a number of texts, including such acclaimed works as the Respuesta a Sor Filotea de la Cruz and her little-studied devotional exercises. With a nonspecialized audience in mind, the author portrays Sor Juana not only as an exceptional Catholic woman and feminist but also as a surprising theological figure. In Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Religion, Art, and Feminism, Pamela Kirk has worked to bridge the gap between the two disciplines by considering the literary dimension of Sor Juana’s so-called religious writings for theologians and illuminating the writer’s religious framework for literary scholars. Surprisingly, perhaps, theologians have generally overlooked her, despite the omnipresence of religious orthodoxy-albeit at times exceptionally interpreted-in both her world and work. As the New World’s foremost seventeenth-century literary figure, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz has stimulated the critical interest of generations of literary scholars.
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