Phichairatanaphong 1

Pledged Pribmanee Phichairatanaphong

How does Sor Juana utilize the concept of silence to advocate for women’s education,

especially in the place of the convent? Throughout this letter, Sor Juana uses a myriad of

religious references along with her own reasoning in order to persuade the reader that the

convent can and should be a place for women’s education. As it is dangerous for a woman at this

time to have bold religious and secular opinions, Sor Juana purposefully diminishes her own

reputation as a form of defense, and this is where we see silence first mentioned. “...must not I

too be silent? Not, like the Saint, out of humility, but because in reality I know nothing I can say

that is worthy of you” (Juana 1997, 3). Although Sor Juana does not actually stay silent, she

recognizes that even the negative of silence can communicate something that is hidden (Juana

1997, 5). While she greatly exaggerates her lack of social status, she does find refuge in the

silence of the convent, a place that is overshadowed by the patriarch of the Church but allows her

to continue her academic studies.

Silence is brought up again towards the end of the letter with the Scripture: “Let the

women keep silence in the church…Let the women learn in silence” (Juana 1997, 59). Sor

Juana’s interpretation of the first part is that women simply do not have a public arena in the

Church, and she does not make an attempt to disagree. She instead focuses on the second part,

asserting that because of this lack of a public space for women, it is especially important that

women are allowed to learn in private, providing many examples where the Church has allowed

women to write. With this excerpt, Sor Juana “makes space in confinement,” using silence

almost like a wall of protection for the convent to become a haven for women. Instead of pushing

for more opportunities for female education on a wider societal scale, she instead strives to make

the most out of her marginalized position. While we can say that feminism on the large of a scale
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would be anachronistic and unrealistic for Sor Juana’s position, she still had a very ambitious

part in cultivating a private space for female education and solidarity.

Works Cited

Juana Inés de la Cruz, Sor. Poems, Protest, and a Dream: Selected Writings. Edited by Margaret

Sayers Peden and Ilan Stavans. New York: Penguin Books, 1997.