The principle that true contracts require genuine consent free from coercion or duress, invalidating vows or agreements extracted under institutional pressure.
Sor Juana took monastic vows, but her own writings reveal the constraints that shaped this decision: poverty of opportunity, the convent as one of few paths to learning for women, and institutional pressure. Libertarian contract theory demands real consent, not coerced compliance. When individuals are forced to choose between poverty and bondage, or between intellectual suppression and confinement, any resulting agreement lacks genuine voluntary consent. Sor Juana's later retreat from intellectual life followed demands that she renounce her work—pressure that no libertarian justice system would permit. This concept applies rigorous consent standards to all agreements, especially those between individuals and institutions claiming authority over conscience or labor. It shows that formal contracts extracted under duress violate libertarian principles and do not bind in justice.
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