The house of trials cover

The house of trials

by Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz

"First complete English translation of Sor Juana's brilliant comedia, Los empeños de una casa (1989), in which she subverts the conventions of gender and Golden Age drama to suit her own feminine perspectives. Castaño, the male character disguised as a woman, performs the construction of gendered identity. Notes help with the 17th-century references and baroque Spanish. Bibliography of primary and secondary sources. This script served for premier productions in March 1996 at Oklahoma City Univ. and at the International Siglo de Oro Theater Festival in El Paso. The annotated translation is clear but its modern registers lose the baroque flavor and wit of the original, in contrast to Peden's translation"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?