Human and divine women. A rhetorical analysis of the descriptio puellae in the poetry of sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Abstract

The poetry of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz has been analyzed by critics from multiple perspectives. However, in the last decades, the desire to rescue her figure has overlooked sometimes the convenience of maintaining certain philological rigor. In this work we review the excellent rhetorical construction of some of the compositions in which the Décima Musa describes women, that is to say, the descriptio puellae, through two spheres: the human and the divine. The principal objective of this paper is to outline, through the rhetorical analysis of this literary topic, a philological approach that insists on the poetic value of Sor Juana’s poetry and clears up the inaccuracies of biographical nature that have been drawn historically from such praises.