Close Reading Analysis, Week 2 : Philosophical Satire

I chose this reading because it did not particularly understand it in the beginning. Nor might I understand it now. However, I do understand things best when I walk through my thoughts of it and say it aloud, or in this case, blogging about it.
I chose to look deeper into a few lines of Sor Juana Ines De La Cruz's Poem 92 that is headed as Philosophical Satire in our text. This section caught my eye because and you read each poem, they are ordered much like an argument between a few people. The tone and style of writing vary slightly between each one. And in Poem 92 it seems that the one speaking has lost their temper and will no longer remain quiet.

"With ridiculous conceit 

you insist that woman be 

a sultry Thais while you woo her;

a true Lucretia once she's won." (263)

I am not sure if it is De La Cruz speaking herself or if she has developed a character to deliver her profound message of gender equality and male hypocrisy. The message is plain, that men want a beautiful woman, but once they have their way with her they move on to the next. Much like the saying "Men only want one thing". This is an over simplification of coarse but I feel accurate in the context. This  poem also shows the double standard of how a woman should act. Should she love the man she wants openly? Or play hard to get? This is the very theme. We know that De La Cruz was a nun and was quite the opposite of what I would assume a nun would be like. She was not a meek and submissive figure hidden in her modesty. In fact, she shone as a nun and with the respect it afforded her she had a larger platform for message.

Some interesting notes were made about this passage are the uses of historical women. 

Thais was the mistress of Alexander the Great, known for her beauty and charms. Lucretia was a noble woman who was also beautiful, but modest. She was raped and then killed herself from the shame, trauma, and heartbreak. The comparisons of these two women paint the rich contrast of a man's fantasy for their prized object of attention. De La Cruz offers an argument that shows the error of a man's wishes and the collateral that could ensue.