Women in the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries: Overviews
WOMEN IN THE 16TH, 17TH, AND 18TH CENTURIES: OVERVIEWS
DALE SPENDER (ESSAY DATE 1992)
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ON THE SUBJECT OF…
ST. TERESA DE AVILA (1515-1582)
One of the most significant figures in the sixteenth-century Spanish mystic movement, St. Teresa de Avila (also known as St. Teresa de Jesus) is also highly regarded as an accomplished prose writer. Her autobiography El libro de su vida (1562; The Life of the Mother Teresa of Jesus) is one of the most widely read books in Spain. Teresa was born in Avila, and in 1536 she entered the convent of Encarnación de Avila as a novice in the Carmelite order. Two years later, Teresa suffered a severe bout of illness, during which she read a number of religious works and began to question her own beliefs about the nature of religious devotion. In 1555 she underwent a conversion experience, and convinced that she had been granted a mystical union with God as a result of her intense meditation and prayer, she began to advocate a more contemplative, ascetic life for the Carmelites in reformed, or Discalced convents, which she established throughout Spain between 1563 and 1576.
Teresa authored several books, including El libra de las fundaciones de Santa Teresa de Jesús (1576; The Book of the Foundations), a continuation of her autobiography with an account of the Carmelite reform, and El castillo interior, o las moradas (1577; The Interior Castle; or, The Mansions), an allegory of the process of spiritual maturation. Long revered for her importance as a writer of spiritual and devotional works, Teresa has received much critical attention as a literary figure during the twentieth century. Numerous scholars have praised her wit and entertaining prose style while recognizing her skill in clarifying enigmatic theories. In recent years studies of Teresa's works have focused on the influence of gender in her autobiography, the psychological implications of her writings and her mystic visions, and the rhetorical goals of her works.
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