Sor Juana

Unlike Helga, Mariana recognizes that she is undermining society in her actions. Throughout the novel, Daniel refers to her as a “witch” and a “cheat,” suggesting that he knows of her subversions. Helga idealizes Mariana, allowing her to influence Helga’s attitude. Mariana first suggests to Helga that “beauty is something so rare, so short-lived” that expecting to find love within the social confines of marriage is near impossible (Bombal, 95). Along with putting the idea of an extra-marital affair into Helga’s head, Mariana also steps into the male role and wants to sell the hunting lodge she owns to Daniel despite it being “[her] husband’s signature that is required” (Bombal, 99). By taking over her husband’s role in selling the lodge,

Sor Juana contradicts herself in responding to St. Paul, as she mentions Christina Alexandra, “who was as learned as she was brave” but then discusses how women are not educated in her time (Sor Juana, 22-25). Bombal contradicts herself with whether her writings can be classed with male writers or not. In the prologue, she presents the story as a detective tale, which was a male writing style at the time, but she repeatedly says she is not writing a novel, which is also a typically male style. Both women are presented with these contradictions in their lives as their society demands that of them: Sor Juana’s knowledge is continuously challenged, and Bombal’s place as a writer is continuously challenged. Sor Juana’s silence also plays into her role as a sister in her society. Her two most famous works involve silence as a theme which “constitutes the terminus of the poem…the peak of understanding, perplexity” (Ludmer, 89). In House of Mist, Bombal uses silence to imply subversiveness in Helga. Both authors use silence to their advantage to add to the subversion in their works. In Sor Juana’s Sueño, there is reference to mythical sisters who are physically silenced for disobeying the gods. Bombal mirrors this model, as the sisters are silenced by Daniel’s orders after he finds out about their subversion in hiding Teresa’s secret from him. The two women work within their societal constraints to incite change, and Bombal uses Sor Juana’s inspirations to strengthen her