Catalina De Erauso Analysis

In Spain and the Spanish colonies in South America in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, gender roles were distinct and the opportunity gap was enormous. Catalina de Erauso compares the two roles through her memoir, “Lieutenant Nun,” where she recounts her life as a transvestite in both the new and old world. Through having experienced the structured life of a woman as well as the freedom involved in being a man, de Erauso formed an identity for herself that crossed the boundaries of both genders. Catalina de Erauso’s life demonstrates the gap in freedom and opportunity for women, as compared to men, in the areas of culture, politics and economy, and religion.

The 1930s were a period of many changes in Spain, especially because Francisco Franco started ruling the country and the political problems that arose. Things slowly started changing for women because of the foundation of Mujeres Libres, a female anarchist organization that fought for female rights. Until then, the general view of women was that of Proudhon, which meant that women were to be seen as reproducers whose role was to contribute to the society by taking care of their household and their children . This was especially common in the rural areas of Spain, where women could even be forced into arranged marriages against their will and almost had no say in what happened to them. The main oppressor of La Casa de Bernarda Alba is actually Bernarda, the mother of

Although there were not many women in the film, those who were portray held important roles. The first being Dona Isabel or Tecuichpo, the interpreter for Hernan Cortes and sister of Topiltzin. She is first introduced when Topiltzin is brought in front of Cortes. As is stated in the film, she is the replacement for La Malinche or Dona Marina. As is stated in Socolow’s The Women in Colonial Latin America, “She (La Malinche) showed her gratitude to the

There are few characters mentioned by the author is this story, but the most significant characters would be Balthasar Espinosa

Toni was one of two daughters of Maria and Jose; she was the youngest daughter. Growing up Toni was constantly praised for her beauty and throughout the film, she was hypersexualized by the people in her community. Being a beautiful Latina woman put her into categories and set expectations for her. Her sister was already married and being the only other daughter she was expected to be next anytime soon. In hopes of gaining respect and relieving the pressures of being a woman in her community, Toni decided she would become a nun. During her time abroad as a nun, she found a passion for activism and met someone she had fallen in love with. Although she was committed to the church, she was not able to freely love and continue her mission to do justice, therefore she left the church.

In “Lieutenant Nun: Memoir of a Transvestite in the New World” by Catalina de Erauso, a female-born transvestite conquers the Spanish World on her journey to disguise herself as a man and inflicts violence both on and off the battlefield. Catalina discovers her hidden role in society as she compares herself to her brothers advantage in life, as they are granted money and freedom in living their own lives. Erauso decides to take action of this act of inequality by forming a rebellion, as she pledges to threaten the social order.The gender roles allotted to both men and women in the Spanish world represent the significance of societal expectations in order to identify the importance of gender in determining one’s position in the social order in the Spanish World.

Catalina de Erauso’s memoir, Lieutenant Nun: Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World, depicts gender relations in the early 17th century Spain. Erauso, through her detailed narrative of personal encounters with transvestism, reveals significant implications of the roles and expectations of the gender binary during this era. Her memoir evidently portrays gender binaries in dress, emotion, and interaction within society as she describes aspects of her journey from the perspective of both a woman and man. The male gender exhibits idealized masculine qualities, such as being violent and spontaneous, and the female gender exhibits idealized feminine qualities, such as emotional suppression and tranquility. Erauso expresses the distinct

The only condition was that Noguerol would return to Spain with Catalina in hope of reuniting with her children. However, they were unaware of the fate that beholds Noguerol’s nobility once they reach Spain.

In the novel Patria has a passion for religion so deep she starts school at Immaculate Concepcion to pursue her dream to become a nun. Minerva begins to talk about getting an education and says, “It started with Patria wanting to be a nun. Mamá was all for having a religious in the family, but Papá did not approve in the least. More than once, he said that Patria as a nun would be a waste of a pretty girl...Finally, Papá gave in to Mamá. He said Patria could go away to a convent school if it wasn’t one just for becoming a nun. Mamá agreed.”(Alvarez, ch. 2). After begging her parents, Patria along with her sisters were allowed to attend school. Although Papa disagrees with what Patria wants to do, that did not stop her. Going against her father's

The novels of Christopher Columbus, Joseph Conrad, and Catalina de Erauso considers that men should rule the world because of their physical appearance being masculine. On the other hand, women are too powerless because they are controlled by society. They must act a certain way to not be condemned. That is why Catalina secured herself of not revealing her true identity when she was Lieutenant Nun because she does not want to face the consequences. Yet, she is a very brave woman when she starts to run from the law and murders a man (14). No woman had the courage to act this way. Thus, people did not question her when she was Lieutenant Nun because people viewed her as a well-respected Lieutenant. Being Lieutenant Nun she loved the feeling of being recognized

Catalina decided to dress as a man for more job opportunities and chances to explore the world. As a man Catalina was able to get good jobs, explore the world, and do things she could never do as a girl. In the new world dressed as a man she committed many major crimes, she was sentenced to death for those crimes. Before her execution she confessed to being a woman and all her charges were dropped. After her forgiveness was granted by many people such as the king of spain and the pope they honored her and even gave her a pension, she also was granted permission to continue dressing as a man. She went back to the Americas and got married, many years later she was found dead on the side of the road no one knew why.

Sor Juana was very different from the other women living in Colonial Latin America. She was a woman that strove for more out of life, regardless of gender and social stratifications. Even as a child, Sor Juana begged her mother to dress her as a boy so she could attend the schools and Universities in Mexico City. She chose to live her life in the convent, not because of her undying need to study the lord's word, but because it opted her out of the marriage life and allowed her to study and continue her learning. She wanted nothing to do with the lifestyle of a normal colonial woman and the only "children" that she was interested in having were her precious library, telescope and other tools of learning. Women of colonial Latin America we seen as objects, that provided a means of reproduction. Sor Juana greatly disagreed with this and based the majority of her work on this concept.

The Lieutenant Nun: Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World, an autobiographical text, nearly four hundred years old, is a narrative on the constructs of male identity; of conquest and belligerence. Which becomes glaringly evident as Catalina focuses on action, travel, facts, names and enumeration. In the translator’s notes, craved by Catalina, these could not be obtained as a woman of Spain. If Catalina focuses most of her attention on such, she avoided writing about “observations and self-examination,” items Catalina may have associated with quiet and leisure activities of women. Emphasizing ‘action’ in her memoir, three “sequences” function as guides.

In addition to training and self-control, Rome was suggested to value discipline in education. Children, specifically boys, were expected to be well-schooled and regiments, physically and mentally. Cato was spoken to have been his son’s reading teacher, tutor, and athletic trainer, forcing his son to fight and brave the extremes of nature (Plutarch 411). As Rome’s military vigor was seen as important to the strength of the empire, Plutarch hints that it was crucial for children to be disciplined into great fighters. Cato ‘s attention to his son’s education had appeared to be successful in Plutarch’s eyes, as Cato’s son grew into a formidable soldier despite his frail body (412). Education was fundamental to Romans in order to practice discipline

“I am a full partner”, implies that Dona Catalina feminist viewpoint of equality in marriage (p42). However, it was evident that Dona Catalina marriage was a form of capitalism and she cared less of being a submissive wife to Don Pablo. According to Moody-Freeman, money equals power and Dona Catalina’s association by marriage to him also grants her power and a status in the community much higher than Luz’s father, a milpa farmer. Interestingly, in the mestizo culture, the older son is automatically in command in the absence of the father however, Dona Catalina “consistently refuse to allow him to control her financial affairs”, infers that Dona Catalina distrust Salvador with her finance (p59). To prevent Luz from gaining custody of her children Dona Catalina uses her economic dominance and reputation in San Joaquın. She also discreetly made business transactions to sell Belizean land to foreign investors. All the economic successes Dona Catalina reaped from her marriage and land transactions made her an agency in San