Girl With A Pearl Earring

When I first looked at this novel, one question came to mind: How do you find a story in a painting? Then, when Chevalier said, “ Something pulls me like a magnet, and then I ignore all the others… I stand in front of that painting, and I tell myself a story about it,” this answered my question. The title of this novel is very simple: “Girl With A Pearl Earring,” nothing special. Yet, after reading it, the painting has such a deep story in it and nothing else can be titled for this novel other than A Girl With A Pearl Earring.

The painting Girl With A Pearl Earring is known as the Dutch Mona Lisa. Thus, this novel tells a story of the famous painting, all the while depicting life in 17th century Delft, a small Dutch city with a burgeoning

art community.

The novel focuses on Griet, the Protestant daughter of a tile painter who lost his sight by a kiln accident.

In order to sustain her struggling family, Griet must work as a maid for a more financially stable family. While Griet was “chopping vegetables in the kitchen”(Chevalier 3), Vermeer couple came in to examine her whether she should be their maid or not. Vermeer becomes interested in Griet when he sees the way she lines the vegetables by their colors: turnips, carrots, leeks, red cabbage, and onion. She places them in this order because otherwise, she claims, “the colors fight when they are side by side” (Chevalier 5). The moment she enters the house, the Vermeer household is ready to make Griet’s life difficult: five children especially Cornelia who will cause most of the troubles on Griet, Maria Thins the mistress, Catherina the young mistress, Tanneke the servant, and “him” (In the novel, Griet mostly calls her master as

“him”),

Griet is DIFFERENT. She sees things DIFFERENTLY. “He” sees this difference and the art credibility in Griet, while his wife Catherina lacks interest in art and often shows clumsiness and therefore has been banished for a long time from her husband’s studio. Sighting Griet’s talent, “he” keeps her as his assistant and teaches her how to grind the paintings and how to get the “genuine” color. Griet’s relationship with Vermeer changes gradually. He would ask Griet to run errands for him: Whenever Griet goes to the apothecary for children’s medicines, “he” would ask her to buy few items such as “bone black” and “ocher.” All this is secret; no one but only these two knows that they work together. Yet, Maria Thins seems to notice.

Griet is also asked to go to the butcher and buy meats where Pieter the son works with his father. It becomes apparent that Pieter the son has feelings for Griet and wants to marry her, while Griet is only interested in her master who compliments her work and thus fits in the household, except for Cornelia who always seeks to get Griet in trouble. She would throw Griet’s water pots into the river, break her one and only tile given by father, and steals tortoiseshell comb which Griet already knew where it is. Whenever something happens to her, Griet would first assume it is done by Cornelia. However, Christina does not seem to stop her because she also has jealousy towards Griet who does things that even she the wife cannot do.

Griet would wake up, clean the house, go to the butcher, watch the kids, and work for him.

Working with “him” seems like in her one of schedule. It is apparent that Vermeer is not a warm husband and therefore, is not soft to Christina who respects him in some way but is more interested in Griet.

Van Rujivan the painter one day comes to the house and asks Vermeer for a painting of himself with Griet. Apparently, we can find out that Rujivan wants some sexual relationship with Griet. Knowing of this, neither Griet nor Vermeer likes the idea so “he” decides to draw them separately. In order for the painting to be complete, Griet needs to wear pearl earrings which only Catherina has, which Griet knows she would be dead if Catherina notices if she wears them. Despite the fact, Vermeer forces Griet to wear them.

Because she is too focused on Vermeer, Griet does not have enough time to spend time with her family. While she is in the Vermeer household, her sister Agnes has died from the plague, her father has died, her brother Frans has banished and is assumed that he is in

Rotterdam.

The night when the painting has been completed, the gasp and the cry of Catherina have heard from the upstairs and up there, Catherina is with Cornelia, door is opened, and they are standing in front of the door. WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

Ten years later… Griet has kids and she stands on the circle of tiles with the eight-pointed star in the middle. “Each point indicates a direction she can take” (Chevalier 216). As for Griet and Vermeer or Griet and Pieter the Son… well, I will not spoil it.

Chevalier’s novel Girl With A Pearl Earring is something far different and better. Chevalier has won a spot in my heart and bookshelf. This novel truly invites you and takes you, to become part of the story, to walk with the characters, to share in their lives, to feel as they feel. On the other side, Chevalier could have improved her writing by adding more actions on relationship with Griet and Vermeer; they were little and less dramatic.

If you are reading this, you should get this novel.