Two Women, Two Continents, One Purpose

Resumen del Libro

This study focuses on the work of two female writers: Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (1648-1695) and Tullia dAragona (1510-1556). I analyze the work of these two writers from a Neoplatonic and linguistic point of view to show how they struggle to assert the dignity of women in general. In particular Sor Juana achieves this by stressing the capability of women to reach a purely spiritual Neoplatonic experience, whereas Tullia dAragona rewrites the traditional Neoplatonic doctrine from a Feminist point of view in which the transition from the Sensible World to the World of Ideas can be achieved by not only focusing on the spiritual aspects of the soul, but also by enjoying the physical side of the human being. In a way Tullia deconstructs the dichotomy between the physical and the spiritual world. On the other hand, Sor Juana will add a linguistic aspect by using the pronoun vosotros in an ironic way showing that men should not be hierarchically superior to women, as far as the religious and Neoplatonic experiences are concerned.