Preview

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
949 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Feature Article
Forbidden Love

The novel Girl with a Pearl Earring should definitely be included on the Novel Ideas book club reading list. Elyshia Hickey reveals why this fascinating, historical and romantic story will appeal to an adolescent audience, as it explores the theme of sensual awakening. Set in 17th century Delft, Chevalier’s novel explores the deep but forbidden love between a young maid and her master. The author’s clever combination of an intriguing story, remarkable characters and descriptive language allowed her to explore the themes of forbidden love, predators and sexual desires.

For hundreds of years people have wondered who is the girl in the portrait Girl with a Pearl Earring, painted by a Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer in the 17th century and what is the connection between them. This fictional love story by Chevalier explores the sensual relationship between the young lady and the painter. Griet, a seventeen year old girl, narrated the story of her life experiences in the 1600’s, as she transformed from a young girl into a married woman. The narrative structure will appeal to a young adult audience as they will be able to relate to many of Griet’s experiences, especially the encounters she had with men. She was hired as a maid by a rich and famous painter, to help her impoverished family. Vermeer allowed her the privilege of working as his assistant in the studio, which caused much turmoil with his wife. This tension between the characters reads like a modern day soap opera. Vermeer was a gentle and respectful master, and Griet became devoted to him. Her secret admiration of him became increasingly intimate and loving, but not sexual. Vermeer’s friend, Van Ruijven requested him to paint Griet. Van Ruijven had several unwanted sexual encounters with her. Griet had to deal with the nervous emotions of a young girl learning to cope with sexual predators. Meanwhile, Griet met the local butcher, Pieter, and a friendship developed between

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Vermeer died in December 1675. The painting “The Girl with a Pearl Earring” was a painting that was not meant to be painted. It is a painting of a European girl wearing an exotic dress an oriental turban and a large pearl earring. It was painted in…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ap Euro Summer Project

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Set from 1664- 1676 this slanting novel illustrates the life of Griet, a common maid living in Delft, as she works for the family of the city’s most renowned painter. At only the age of sixteen when she starts to work for the Vermeer family, Griet is expected to know her place and pick up her duties like second nature. The household dominated by mother and daughter alike Catharina Vermeer and Maria Thins; Griet must be quick on her feet with the help of the present maid, Tanneke. She was brought to the Vermeer household for an exceedingly specific reason, to clean her master’s studio. It doesn’t take very long after Griet’s arrival at the Vermeer home for her to turn the heads of the master painter, some of his prosperous clientele, and even the local butcher. One of Vermeer’s clients takes a specific interest in Griet; an internally disfigured man by the name of Van Ruijven takes a liking to the “wide eyed maid” and can’t help himself but to take a closer look. Over the course of Griet cleaning Master Vermeer’s studio she has found a hidden passion for the world of art with its exotic colors and dazzling lights, shifting shadows and indescribable beauty. Ultimately Griet becomes a central part of Vermeer’s work, allowing them to become closer, creating tension and ripples in the structure of the Vermeer household. Just as Griet begins to find comfort as her routine of cleaning, cooking, and looking after the children, she is requested as a model in a classic Vermeer painting for none other than the furtive Van Ruijven. Much to his dismay, Master Vermeer had no option but to take the work for his hastily growing family. She is posed looking over her left shoulder,…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story is imbued with a chilling villain that sends a chill down the spine making it impossible to put down the novel. Jesslyn lives through unspeakable sadness and pain after losing her children and husband to a drunk driver only to stumble on to her closest friend murdered, with the villain outline disappearing tin the darkness. To make it even more interesting she feels a weird attraction to her new guest even going as far as agreeing to stay with him. A spooky, yet scintillating and sexy read, it is sure to delight any romantic suspense thriller…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Writer’s block is a term often use to describe a creative block when they are unsure and lost on how to go about with their writing; it’s not just the inability to continue with their work, but it can also be the inability to produce something creative. Moreover, this term is not isolated to writers only, this creative block can apply to all those who practice the art — artists, composers, choreographers. In this essay, I shall explain a few relatively common causes of writer’s block and the techniques to overcome this creativity block. I will be referring to several sources and to my experience on how I deal with writer’s block.…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Vermeer's Hat Analysis

    • 1123 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Vermeer’s Hat is not the easiest of works to define. It encompasses the 17th century’s Dutch lifestyle intertwined with an expanding world. There is possibly very little other literature that gives us a glimpse of 17th century’s way of life in a fascinating and captivating manner like Vermeer’s Hat does. The vividness is unmatched, making one feel the atmosphere that existed then, in an intense manner. The work is indeed in many aspects historical. It captures and explains eventful moments of the 17th century. It also documents and preserves the circumstances surrounding the history of not only the Dutch but also other world players of the 17th century. Another dimension that is prevalent to the reader is the commercial aspect…

    • 1123 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ingenue and the Gold Dress

    • 1918 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The focus of this paper will be “Ingenue” by Richard Judson Zolan and “The Gold Dress” by Bill Brauer. The focal point of both paintings is a beautiful woman and this is where the similarities stop. Zolan’s focus is completely within the boundaries of the painting while Brauer’s leads your eye off the plane insinuating there is more going on than is captured within the boundaries of the painting. The word ingenue refers to a naive, innocent young woman while the woman in “The Gold Dress” is definitely more provocatively situated. Both artists are Americans, Zolan from Chicago and Brauer from New York. Zolan studied under Louis Rittman, a personal friend and student of Claude Monet, the French impressionist, and Brauer under Frederico Castellon, a Spanish-American painter and illustrator of children’s books. Zolan’s style reflects the influence of Monet with the effects of light while Brauer is more sensual and moody, using deep intense colors and beautifully rendered curves. Both works of art are beautifully painted and express the great talent of both men.…

    • 1918 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The stories of “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant and “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Connor are different from one another at first glance, however when analyzing deeper into the context, there are obvious similarities that can be recognized. The main characters from both of these stories are identified as Mathilde from “The Necklace” and the grandmother from “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” with both of these characters being comparable on the aspects of their character flaw, encountering of tragedy, and undergoing of character change.…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over the years, house hold up keeping has changed greatly from maids to moms and dads picking up after their children and them selfs and not woring about someone being in your house and having to pay them. In the book Girl with a Perl Earring written by Tracey Chevalier, It is a book staged in 1664 about a young women named greit in a small town called Delft in New Holland. She has to accomplish some difficult tasks and has to work through her aking and tired body to make money for family after her father was blinded at work. At the beggining Griet is just a simple maid cleaning and cooking, but her job becomes harder as she goes having to help Vermeir and hide it from the mother and having another affair in the outside world. Griet is…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Candide

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages

    It seems however, that the “strength” that these women show might not be a statement on the internal powers of women, but rather that they have no choice than to adapt to a gruesome and misogynistic situation. The old woman, after telling her terrible life story, relates that she does not believe in self-pity—she was merely telling everyone to pass the time. Although there are many female victims in Candide, none of them seem at all aware of the travesties committed to them or their sex and moreover, they hold true to an abundance of stereotypes (gold-diggers, prostitutes, battered old women). In many respects, as far as feminism goes, this is a rather bleak novel especially because although it is heralded as a precursor to the revolutions, it lacks the true ideals of the Enlightenment’s assertions of equal rights for…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Peer pressure within a society can cause even the strongest person a significant impact on their lives.…

    • 1605 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel “Girl with a Pearl Earring” by Tracy Chevalier, the limitation of women of 17th century Holland was portrayed by the female protagonist Griet and how she is manipulated as a maid by all adults in her life, which means they place Griet in difficult situations and take advantages of her innocence, her feelings and love with their power and influences on her life to benefit themselves. She is put in the lowliest position which enables some other adults to abuse her, that is, they misuse their position of authorities as well as social rank, leaving her vulnerable and open to accusations as well as sexual assault. However, she managed to maintain her strong characters and show the effort to make positive choices about the future by leaving the Vermeer house and marrying Pieter.…

    • 1121 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the novel ‘Girl with A Pearl Earring' we find that Griet has more power as a woman and a maid then we may have first thought. As we move deeper into the novel we find that Griet has some power over Vermeer's paintings, along with the Vermeer family and as we reach the end of the novel we learn of her power to destroy the Vermeer family.…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tracey Chevalier’s Girl With A Pearl Earring tells the story of a sixteen-year-old servant girl who is sent to work for a painter and his family due to her father losing his trade. Thinking that she is there for cooking, cleaning and child minding she is also allowed into the studio, where the painter’s wife is not allowed. When she is asked by Vermeer to be a model for his painting, she agrees but is also driven by fear to keep her actions a secret from his jealous wife; as Griet lives, works and poses (fully clothed) in the house she gets caught in a web of tension and deception. While the family of the household have wealth, Griet has power due to her personality and artistic intellect and the help of Maria Thins.…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Girl On The Train” by Paula Hawkins is an amazing and interesting mystery thriller that is bound to keep any reader on the edge of their seat. From the careful setup of the timeline to how the main character's own vices come together to describe the disappearance of the lovely and wild Megan Hipwell, this book is surely one that keeps the reader guessing until the thrilling conclusion. With foreshadowing that leaves the reader on edge and not a single detail gone unexplained it is difficult to find even one negative for Paula Hawkins amazing novel. “The Girl On The Train” is truly a book you could recommend to any mature reader.…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Duchess and the Jeweler is the story of the world's greatest jeweler who had promised his mother to become the richest jeweler in the world in his childhood but now that his dream has materialized he does not feel satisfied. So trying to achieve satisfaction, knowingly he buys fake pearls from a Duchess in exchange for passing a whole weekend with her daughter whom he is in love with. The purpose of this essay is to show how Virginia Woolf has successfully presented the inner mind of the characters, their struggle and their communication through the least amount of verbal communication among them.…

    • 1593 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics