Does Sor Juana's "Reply" tone remain constant or does it change during the essay?

In Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz's "Reply" ("Respuesta a Sor
Filotea") to Sor Filotea de la Cruz (actually a bishop of Puebla
writing in disguise), I do not feel that the tone changes, but that it remains
constant.

Sor Juana's tone is informative rather than
argumentative. She sounds quite humble as she gently defends a woman's right to study
and share her opinions. She admits that people might, with good reason, find fault with
her essays and/or letters. She invites (and expects) others to
disagree, as she disagreed with Portuguese Jesuit, Father Antonio Vieira and a sermon he
wrote in 1650, which seems to have started the difficulty in the first place—when she
wrote critically about the sermon.

However, while Sor Juana
is seemingly humble and deferential, one need not read too strenuously to "hear" what
she seems to be saying between the lines. She
notes a desire to be obedient when a mother superior ordered that Sor Juana should not
read.

...I
obeyed her (for the three months or so that her authority over us lasted) in that I did
not pick up a book.

While Sor
Juana never read a book during those three months, she could not
force herself not to study and learn. Instead of having a book as a primer, nature
became Sor Juana's classroom, and she studied the world around
her...

...I
studied all the things that God created, taking them for my letters, and for my book all
the intricate structures of this
world...

When Sor Juana
writes about doing kitchen work (an "acceptable" way for a woman of the day to spend her
time), it almost seems tongue-in-cheek. She asks Sor
Filotea...

readability="6">

...what can we women know, save philosophies of
the kitchen?

Because Sor
Juana struggled for permission to learn to read and write at a
young age, and rather than marrying, sought refuge in the Church as a nun where she
could have certain intellectual freedoms, not for a moment do I believe that that Sor
Juana felt a woman belonged mindlessly in a kitchen.

This
line sounds almost sarcastic or subtlely patronizing. Sor Juana probably never did
things half-heartedly. She may not have loved cooking, though I'm sure she applied
herself—even though she would have preferred to write or
read.

I sense that Sor Juana is doing all she can to
placate and not offend. And while we may feel we can read between the lines and draw
inferences about what she was referring to or how she felt, she had no desire to
aggravate anyone, especially the men in positions of power within the Church and
society. Her primary reason may have been to remove herself from the public eye (during
a dangerous time to challenge religious doctrine) so she could do what she really
wanted: learning, thinking, writing and growing
intellectually.

So while I think there was a great deal
going on beneath the surface of her letter, my sense is that Sor Juana worked hard to
control any frustration that she might have felt in having to write such a letter,
keeping the tone constant
throughout.

Additional
Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juana_Inés_de_la_Cruz

http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/271-the-remarkable-life-of-juana-inés-de-la-cruz-1651–1695