Keywords
Medieval Woman
Feminism
Eve
Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz
How to Cite
Abstract
Pawns of a House, by Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz, has generally been studied from feminist or gender theory perspectives. However, it is a play in which female characters evoke the medieval ideology about women, as they are portrayed as deceiving, prone to evil and sexually uncontrollable; characteristics inherited from Eve. With this in mind, this paper reevaluates Sister Juana Inés’s comedy in order to show that the author presents her orthodox thinking throughout the text’s female characters. We will engage with the critical works of Gerda Lerner, Susana Hernández Araico, and Stephanie Merrim, among others, as an argumentative basis. Additionally, we will use literary, theological and philosophical examples to explore the definition of a Medieval woman, as well as how this definition is represented through the comedy’s female characters. Finally, we will show how these women redeem themselves at the end of the work and restore the order of broken honor.
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