Significant Themes in Catalina De Erauso's Memoir Lieutenant Nun

It is extremely difficult for people living in today's society to imagine a time and a place where one would have better opportunities as a man. In fact, today women have leadership roles everywhere. All over the world they rule as queens, presidents, prime ministers and governors. However, in Catalina de Erauso's memoir, Lieutenant Nun, she writes that being a man is the only way she will ever be able to encounter the "new" world that she has heard countless accounts of, and feel like an equal member of society. Erauso's feelings make a powerful statement about the roles of women in Spanish society in the late 1500's, and early 1600's. Not only does it show the views of Spanish society in the fifteenth century, in regards to the power the male gender holds, but it states the significance of virginity, and how the differences between the society we live in today is immensely different then the society Erauso experiences.

It is no surprise that Erauso had curiosities about life outside of her small town in Spain where she resided with her prosperous family. Erauso had two possibilities; she could be married or join the convent. This would continue to protect her families honor and wealth. However, Erauso grew up with brothers from whom she heard stories of the "new world", which ultimately shaped the person she would become after escaping.