7
7
9
5
10
Which elements of this
portrait seem idealized?
Which seem realistic?
[Classify]
Justa. Bartolome Esteban Murillo
8
Critical Viewing
Murillo (1617–1682) was to become
Spain’s most popular painter by the
year 1660. He was known primarily
as a colorist, and was famed for his
sense of color contrasts. Murillo
focused on religious subjects for most
of his works, investing them with
warmth and humanity. In his later
work, Murillo focused on solving
problems having to do with light,
color, and atmosphere. Use these
questions for discussion.
1. Judging from the details in the
picture, do you think the woman
has the same views about love as
the speaker? Explain.
Possible responses: Yes; she
seems serious and steady, so she
probably agrees with the ideas of
the speaker in Sonnet 116; no,
she seems to be a dreamer
because she is gazing into space
and perhaps is longing for adventure or romance.
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, no! It is an ever-fixèd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,1
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.2
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass3 come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.4
If this be error, and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
1. star . . . bark the star that guides every wandering ship: the North Star.
2. Whose . . . be taken whose value is unmeasurable, although navigators measure its
height in the sky.
3. compass range; scope.
4. doom Judgment Day.
Humanities
Justa, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Vocabulary Builder
impediments (im ped« ß
mßnts) n. obstacles
alters (ôl« tßrs) v. changes
2. Does the woman in the picture
resemble the woman described by
Shakespeare in Sonnet 130?
Explain.
Possible responses: Yes, she is
not exceptionally beautiful, but
she seems earthy, warm, and kind;
no, she is too conventionally
beautiful to be the woman
described by the speaker of
Sonnet 130.
8
10
According to the speaker,
how long does true
love last?
9
Sonnet 116 ■ 261
Support for Special Needs Students
Strategy for Gifted/Talented Students
Students may experience difficulty identifying
the key elements of Sonnet 130 that make it
essentially Shakespearean. Have students read
Sonnet 130 aloud with teacher guidance.
Then, model for students the three quatrains
and rhyming couplet, the rhyme scheme of
abab cdcd efef gg, and the iambic pentameter
meter.
Have students compose their own
Shakespearean sonnets, borrowing from
themes and forms used in the works in this
group. Students should write their 14-line
sonnets in iambic pentameter, and should
structure their poems with three quatrains and
a closing couplet. Encourage students to use
the form to enhance the themes of their
sonnets.
Critical Viewing
Answer: The woman’s perfectly
shaped head and pure complexion
may be idealized. The posture and
expression of the model seem
artificial or posed. Her clothing
and hairstyle seem realistic.
About the Selections
In Sonnet 116, Shakespeare praises
the constancy and steadfastness of
true love.
In Sonnet 130, Shakespeare makes
fun of the figures of speech that
Petrarchan poets used to describe
their ideal but remote mistresses. He
shows how those figures of speech
do not apply to his mistress, who is
no goddess, but still beautiful.
10
Reading Check
Answer: True love lasts forever, even
“to the edge of doom.”
261