In the novel ‘The Girl With A Pearl Earring’ by Tracy Chevalier, because a maid for Catharina and Vermeer. She is the first and only person to be Vermeer’s assistant in his studio, making Catharina jealous. In the first four pages, it is evident that Vermeer might be more compatible with Griet than his own wife. It is interesting for the reader to examine, whether this is actually true. Or whether Tracy Chevalier presented it this way to the readers.
In the first few pages of The Girl With A Pearl Earring Catharina is presented as quite dominant and melodramatic. As she entered the room her husband was behind her and ‘following her’. This shows her dominance as her husband is following her and she is leading him. Husbands are generally
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From the minute they meet they get along quite well. Vermeer acknowledges Griet’s actions and put effort into making conversation with her, he says ‘I see you have separated the whites’. The simplicity of him noticing watch she does and paying a lot of attention to her shows their likeliness. Also, within minutes of knowing Griet, he already knows how to make her uncomfortable by testing her. When he moves the cabbage, ‘the cabbage shred fell partly into the onions’. Griet desperately wants to put the cabbage back in place, which might not have been noticed by Catharina or Griet’s mother. However, Vermeer is ‘testing’ her, to see if she was going to do what he clearly thought she would.
In conclusion, Vermeer is presented as more compatible with Griet than his wife. It is from the clear difference between the characters of Catharina and Vermeer– but also how much more similar Vermeer and Griet are. When the text is studied more deeply, one could infer that Vermeer is presented as more in harmony with Griet by his difference with his wife being highlighted. So in fact, the strong contrast between the husband and wife makes the connection between Vermeer and Griet more