On the education of women: the pre-Enlightenment feminist thought of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz in relation to Mary Wollstonecraft

Abstract

Introduction. Modern feminist thought has as its starting point the Enlightenment and, more specifically, the demands of women that emerged as a result of the French Revolution. Objectives. The aim of this paper is to take that starting point to the previous century, examining the thought of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz on the education of women and the feminist premises that emerge from her discourse. Methodology. To do this, three texts are analyzed and compared: two of them written by the aforementioned author (Letter to Father Núñez and Reply to Sor Philotea) and the third written by Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman) in order to place Sorjuanian thought as a feminist precedent {of/to} Wollstonecraft. This paper attempts to recognise Sor Juana and her work as key to the beginning of the current feminist movement. Results. The proposals that both authors make regarding the education of women are observed and compared to finally verify that Sor Juana is ahead of many of the approaches that Wollstonecraft later addresses. Conclusions and discussion. The main contributions of the paper are, firstly, to consider Sor Juana as a feminist thinker for her contributions on the education of women rather than solely a great figure in Golden Age literature; secondly, to open the debate on feminist thought before the Enlightenment and consider it as the roots from which the ensuing social movement starts to grow.