Drawing on rich new scholarship, this translation restores Sor Juana's own emphasis and diction. Known as the First Feminist of America, the Mexican nun Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (1648/51 - 1695) was a brilliant and popular poet, playwright, and essayist whose feminist theory stands as a link between that of Christine de Pizan and Mary Wollstonecraft in the struggle to establish the intellectual rights of women. Sor Juana's persistent defense of these rights brought her increasingly into conflict with church officials who wanted to silence her. The Answer (1691) is Sor Juana's culminating response to years of attacks. The introduction, bibliography, chronology, and complete Spanish texts of The Answer and nine poems make this volume the indispensable Sor Juana reader.

"One of the landmarks of Renaissance literature and an important document in the history of intellectual freedom.... Essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand not only this remarkable woman but also the whole world in which she forged her identity."-Stephen Greenblatt, UCLA Berkeley

* A 1995 PEN Center West Literary Translation Award Finalist *

* Alternate of the Quality Paperback Book Club *

Suggested for course use in:

Feminist Theory

Latin American Studies

Religious History

Women's history