Posting 5

Paz, Octavio. Sor Juana or, The Traps of Faith. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988.

This book by Octavio Paz was written with great admiration for Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. He throughly describes the social context of the Sor Juana's period and her odacity to write to Popes as well as write profane poetry. He writes about the unique society, her family, and her life in the convent.

This is exactly what I was looking for, he does a great job especially describing Mexican society of the era and its connection with the Spanish Empire. The admiration again that he has for this woman is especially due to the recognition of the political, social and cultural contexts that surrounded her.

Henry, Madeleine M. Prisoner of History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Madeline Henry does a great job placing Aspasia of Miletus in Greek history. For as little as we know about this writer, Henry. The analysis for each mentioning of Aspasia through Plato, Cicero and Socrates in addition to the intersting comments on the stories told by comedy, make this book easy to read and very detailed.

I am not sure I'll use this book due to the fact that I am debating if to change Aspasia for another writer. The reason for this is because of the book itself. It made me realize that a parrallel connection between Sor Juana and Aspasia might be very complicated to do. There is too much missing of Aspasia's writings. Maybe I'll change my mind when I finish the book.