Griet's Girl With A Pearl Earring

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Recommended: The portrayal of women in literature

Another way that Griet and Belle show the unfair treatment towards women is how their societies view women as less than men and try to force a "yes" response to a proposal, giving them no options in their own lives. In Girl With a Pearl Earring Griet is expected to marry Pieter the Son and her family is constantly pressuring her to do so because of the meat it would provide for them. Pieter tries several times to get Griet to agree to marrying him, which she constantly tries to avoid answering. On Griet’s eighteenth birthday towards the end of the novel, Pieter comes to the Vermeer’s house on Papists’ Corner and asks her in front of most of the family to marry him. Griet responded, “‘You were wrong to come here’” before the young maid turned …show more content…

‘Whore’” (Chevalier 207). Tanneke’s harsh words toward Griet show that it was frowned upon for women to refuse marriage proposals, especially considering how she was in some sort of relationship with Pieter. Women were not given choices so that they would not say no and risk humiliating the man. Instead, women in Griet’s society were supposed to accept proposals and do what the men asked since they held more power, were smarter, stronger, and overall the more important gender. This theme is also noticeable in Belle’s society from Beauty and the Beast because of the way the town reacts to Belle refusing Gaston’s constant proposals. Throughout the movie, Gaston constantly tries to get Belle to marry him since he was certain she was the prettiest girl in town and he deserved only the very best. When Gaston tries to take Belle out to the tavern in the beginning of the movie she responds by saying, “‘Maybe some other time’” …show more content…

In Delft the expectations men have for women include sexual interactions in exchange for any sort of kindness or help. Women and their bodies are treated as bartering tools in Griet’s society and the men all treat women as objects and toys for their own personal gain. Van Ruijven is the biggest example of this mindset and at one time near the end of the novel he “tried to pull [Griet’s] chemise down over [her] shoulders and expose [her] bosom. ‘You shouldn’t fight me, my girl’ he murmured as [Griet] backed away from him. ‘You’ll enjoy it more if you don’t fight. And you know, I will have you anyway when I get that painting.’ He pushed [Griet] against the wall and lowered his lips to [her] chest, pulling at [her] breasts to free them from the dress” (Chevalier 202). Griet’s treatment in her society just because of her gender and looks is unfair and yet is considered to be her role in her culture. This treatment of women against the treatment men limits Griet and other women to being manipulated without the ability to do anything for themselves because they were women and did not have rights or choices but were rather just there for men’s pleasure. Similar to Griet’s town of Delft, in Belle’s town women were treated as beautiful trophies that the men would select

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