Reading Girl with a Pearl Earring, the reader quickly becomes acquainted with Griet’s fascinating personality and way of thinking. Right off the bat, Griet is presented as a relatively mature individual, clever and perceptive of the world around her. She knows when she is being tested by others and chooses her words carefully (especially around Tanneke) in order to achieve results advantageous to her. She estimates the abilities of those around her and also often makes correct assessments in others ways of thinking (i.e. realizing that Catharina knew as much about ordering her around as Griet did of being a maid AND realizing that Cornelia’s going to be a nuisance).
Additionally, Griet’s attention to detail is astonishing. She is able to discern irregularities in Vermeer’s artistic choices as well as what ‘makes a painting a good painting’. She is adaptable with her cleaning and other tasks, and analytical with her spatial calculations regarding object positions in the studio. Interpersonal and analytical skills along with prior expertise in areas of art combined makes one wonder how she would fair in an academic setting. She’s clearly intelligent and knows how to talk the talk, therefore it would be logical to assume that she could very well be a genius untapped.
I definitely got the impression that Griet was a “genius untapped.” She clearly has an artistic eye and a deep fascination with the world of art, which I thought was what really played into her infatuation with Vermeer. It wasn’t so much him that she was attracted to as it was what he represented. He was the embodiment of a sort of life that she wanted for herself, but she knew so deeply that she couldn’t have that the only way she could experience it was vicariously through him.
I like that you described how Griet clearly has untapped potential. I feel that Vermeer slowly comes to the realization of this, and that is why he begins teaching her things. I believe that he sees a little bit of himself in her, and the way she sees the world.
Great remark on this book. I wish women had more power over jobs and overall had equality, I could see her as a genius painter