The most prominent theme in Girl With A Pearl Earring is power or rather Griet’s lack of it. Abuse of power can be seen clearly in Van Ruijven as he uses his power and money to harass Griet and make Vermeer create a painting of her even though she does not want to. In a less striking example, even Vermeer abuses his power by having Griet take on extra chores for him, having her buy things, secretly using her to model in a painting, and all of the other little acts he uses to manipulate Griet. The clearest act of his misuse of authority is forcing Griet to wear Catharina’s earrings and not caring about how it will affect either of them.
While Catharina is the mistress of the house she seems to have the least power. She is supposed to be in charge of the children, the maids, and the rest of the household, but she seems to do little of those responsibilities. She enjoys her title of Mistress and her lofty position but does not have authority to properly run anything. I think the trauma of the abuse she endured as a child has crushed her confidence. She has a passive voice within the house; for example: when Vermeer proposes that Griet sleep in the attic instead of the cellar, she protests but does not emphasize the fears she has. She is insecure about Griet being so close to her husband, but she does not fight due to her fear of what her husband will say. This lack of authority that she has shown throughout the book causes Cornelia to fill in the gap for her.
Since the beginning, Cornelia is portrayed as “a handful” and “a troublemaker.” She is mischievous and often gets back at Griet in petty ways for no identified reasons. Cornelia is Catharina’s favorite child, so she is never scolded or punished. I think this is because Catharina is happy she is carrying out all of the petty acts toward Griet that she wishes she could do herself. Cornelia’s behavior is most likely a subconscious shift to scapegoat herself in order to protect her mother in her own way. She recognizes that her Mother is weary of Griet from the very start and when she found out that her Father was having Griet model for him, she saw this as a direct threat to her parent’s marriage and her family. This threat caused her act out to protect her Mother and family from potential destruction.
“Cornelia’s behavior is most likely a subconscious shift to scapegoat to protect her mother in her way.” This strikes me as a perceptive, persuasive observation about Cornelia.
I had not thought of Cornelia’s role in that way. It makes more sense as to why Catharina never scolded her for doing what she did.
I didn’t think of it like that! That’s a neat take