Girl With A Pearl Earring – College Essay Example

and Vermeer, readers still view her positively due to understanding her story. Griet herself recounts how she willingly held a difficult pose and endured headaches to help Vermeer achieve his desired painting.

In the text below, the protagonist rebels against her society's rules and indulges in fantasies. The author uses various characters' words and deeds to position us to perceive them differently. According to Chevalier, Vermeer is a complex, intelligent individual with an acute visual sense that allows him to render his world in art. Vermeer's excellence in art causes trouble for himself and those around him because it is both his primary passion and source of income. For example, as Vermeer grows closer to Griet, their shared love of art leads him to paint her, which irritates his wife Catharina, who asks angrily, "And she is?"

Vermeer causes issues for Griet, as she is no longer able to work in his household. Chevalier portrays Vermeer as powerful, yet also selfish. This is demonstrated when he traps his wife with her pregnancies, confines his family financially, and ensnares Griet within his world.

Throughout the novel, the main character is portrayed as selfish. For instance, he pressured Griet into piercing her ear for his painting without regard for her discomfort or how his wife would feel. When asked about his wife's opinion of the finished artwork, he dismissively replied that she would not see it as he planned to give it directly to van Ruijven. Later, when the painting was completed, Griet felt neglected and exploited. Despite waiting for him in the storeroom with her hair loosely hanging over her shoulders, he did not come.

After the completion of

the painting, he no longer desired me. Chevalier portrays a negative angle of Vermeer through these scenes and presents Griet and Vermeer as characters who keep their emotions internalized. Throughout the novel, the sexual tension between them intensifies, but the furthest they ever go is when Griet requests Vermeer to pierce her ear.

Despite Griet demonstrating suppressed feelings towards Vermeer to Pieter, he did not remove his hand from her neck. Rather, he ran his fingers along her jaw and traced the side of her face up to her cheek before using his thumb to blot the tears that fell from her eyes. As the sexual tension between Griet and Vermeer reached its peak, conflicts arose, leading Griet to ultimately leave the family she worked for.

Through Chevalier's plot, Griet and Vermeer are portrayed as highly self-disciplined characters. Girl with a Pearl Earring exemplifies how the author can manipulate their readers' perceptions of characters. Chevalier positions us to view Vermeer and Griet as individuals with heightened aesthetic perception; they are composed, tranquil, and possess keen artistic insight, enabling them to observe people and objects with great attention to detail.

The novel featured characters with distinctive personalities that were not only marked by intelligence and talent but also by their complex layers.