Catalina de Erauso was a woman who led the life of a man in 16th century Spain and finally in the New World. Her journey begins as a young woman in the nuns' covenant, where she was preparing to become a nun herself. As anyone can imagine, gender roles in the 1600s were not very flexible. Catalina was a pioneer and challenged rigid gender roles by dressing and living most of her life as a man. As readers we see Catalina distance herself from the identities typically associated with being female. She shows very little emotion, which is typically a feminine emotion, and becomes very desensitized to his violent acts. Catalina also distances herself from people. He doesn't take the time to allow himself to make connections with other people. She doesn't spend more than a few months in a city due to the risk of someone discovering her. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayCatalina has a very complex relationship with the church. Raised in Spain, she spent much of her youth in the church. She was in the process of training to become a nun, but left the process halfway through. She felt like it was too restrictive to always be questioned. In the introduction it is discussed that after killing his brother he finds solace in the church. She grew up in church, so she feels like that's the only community she has. He never forms close bonds while traveling, so church is all he has. Catalina, however, often finds herself running back to churches. After leaving Panama, he goes with his master to the port of Paita where he gets into an argument. She proceeds to stab a man in the side and then states, “I ran straight to the church, followed just as quickly by the sheriff” (14). She goes through the court and is released, and returns to church as this provides her with a sense of comfort. After attending her brother's funeral, she remains in the church for eight months while she is put on trial. Here he finds comfort as he awaits punishment as he has no other close ties until he escapes the area with the help of Don Juan Ponce de León. At the end of her autobiography she returns to church, where she reveals to the senior bishop that she is a woman. Before she reveals this information to him, he promises to keep her secret, but she only feels comfortable telling him inside the church. Catalina, although she may feel like the church is what held her back in her early life, can't help but return to churches since that's all she knows. As Catalina continues on her journey, the reader begins to notice that she becomes truly comfortable taking on male roles and begins to identify as a man. The reader can see his pride get in the way and start battles upon his arrival in Panama. She attends the theater and Reyes sits in front of her. When Reyes refuses to move he becomes furious. He sees him again later in the week and proceeds to cut him ten times and stab his friend. She helps her friend in a battle against two other men and one of them turns out to be her brother. She stabs him and ends up killing him. He immediately regrets it when he finds out who he is. However, this does not stop her because she is later arrested again after having problems with the natives. His pride and inflated ego may stem from his overcompensation. Since she is a woman, she knows the restrictions that come with it. He takes his time as a man seriously, so he adopts the pride and ego that comes with the stereotype of being a man. Catalina killed numerous men during her travels. He even kills his brother despite being one of the few and..
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