Women - Needs, Futures & Objectification - Girl with a Pearl Earring

Tracy Chevalier’s brilliant novel, ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’ is largely a feminist novel, exposing the cruel exploitation and control over women in bygone days. This novel reveals that in the past, women’s needs and emotions were not particularly catered or cared for. We also discover that women in these olden times had little choice regarding their future and were strongly restricted and controlled by society. Lastly, Chevalier highlights how women were often seen by men as materialistic sex objects rather than equal, respectable individuals.

To being, in these bygone days, women’s personal feelings and emotions were never particularly cared about or catered for. In the passage where Vermeer is painting the pearl earring into his artwork, he subtly acts with slight lust towards Griet; slowly pulling and rubbing her earlobe, running his fingers down her face and his thumb slowly over her lip. These acts cause Griet to be in an aroused state, developing a great attraction to Vermeer and a severe need to please him. She obeyed his every word and Vermeer managed to put her through the unnecessary pain of piercing her other ear as well, just to cater for his artistic perfectionism. When he was finished, he simply stated “it is done” and ordered her to give the earring back when she left. Griet began to “cry silently”, her heart had been hurt as she now realised “that now the painting was finished he no longer wanted [her]”. This example demonstrates the little importance a woman’s feelings were in those days. Vermeer acts lustfully, makes Griet pierce her ear and then cruelly dismisses her without so much as a ‘thankyou’ for her suffering. Vermeer treated her as nothing more than a simple tool required to build his masterpiece. He unkindly took advantage of Griet. With this passage ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring” reveals it’s feminist side, showing how women were often exploited in those days.

Furthermore, women in these olden times had little choices and were...