Girl with a Pearl Earring (novel)
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| Girl with a Pearl Earring | |
 First edition cover |
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| Author | Tracy Chevalier |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical fiction |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Publication date | January 1, 1999 |
| Media type | print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 256 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0002258900 |
Girl with a Pearl Earring is a 1999 historical novel written by Tracy Chevalier. It takes place in Delft, Holland and was inspired by Johannes Vermeer's painting Girl with a Pearl Earring. It fictionalizes the circumstances under which the painting was created. It was adapted into a 2003 film of the same name and a 2008 play of the same name.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Author Tracy Chevalier came up with the idea for the novel in November 1997 while she was looking at a poster of Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, which bought poster when she was nineteen years old and hung wherever she lived over the next sixteen years. Chevalier notes that the "ambiguous look" on the girl's face left the "most lasting impression" on her. She describes the girl's expression "to be a mass of contradictions: innocent yet experienced, joyous yet tearful, full of longing and yet full of loss." She began to think that the girl had directed all these emotions at the painter, and began to think of the "story behind that look".[1]
Chevalier did historical research for the novel through reading history books, studying Vermeer's and his peers' paintings, and spending several days in Delft.[1] She was pregnant while researching and writing the novel, and finished writing it within eight months because she had a "biological deadline".[2]
[edit] Publication history
The first edition was published by HarperCollins in 1999.[3] It is extremely rare because the back cover carried the spelling mistake, "earing," and most of the copies were destroyed.[citation needed]
A deluxe edition of the novel, which includes a foreword by Tracy Chevalier as well as color prints of some of the Vermeer paintings referenced in the novel, was published in September 2005.[4]
[edit] Plot summary
Sixteen-year-old Griet lives with her family in a poorer quarter of Delft in 1664. Her father was blinded in an accident, and the family's precarious economic situation forces Griet's parents to find her employment as a maid in painter Johannes Vermeer's household. She befriends Vermeer's oldest daughter, Maertge, but is not on good terms with Cornelia, one of Vermeer's younger daughters. She also becomes friendly with Tanneke, the other house servant, but is careful to remain modest and unobtrusive for fear of making Tanneke jealous.
During her months of work at the Vermeers', Pieter, the local butcher's son, starts courting Griet, and the area in which Griet's family lives is struck with plague which leads to the death of her younger sister. Griet is increasingly fascinated by Vermeer's paintings, and her relationship with Vermeer deepens. He discovers that Griet has an eye for art, and secretly asks her to run errands and perform tasks for him, such as mixing his paints and acting as a substitute model. Griet arouses the suspicions of Vermeer's wife, Catharina, but Vermeer's mother-in-law recognizes Griet's presence as a steadying and catalyzing force in Vermeer's career. Griet is warned by Vermeer's friend, Dr. van Leeuwenhoek, not to get too close to Vermeer because Vermeer is far more interested in paintings than he is in people. Griet realizes that this is true and remains cautious.
Vermeer's wealthy but licentious patron, Van Ruijven, notices Griet and her beauty and pressures Vermeer to paint them sitting together. Griet and Vermeer are initially reluctant to fulfill this request due to Griet's strict modesty and a scandal surrounding the last girl who had been painted with van Ruijven. Eventually, Vermeer comes up with a compromise and paints a portrait of Griet by herself to be sold to van Ruijven. For the painting, he asks her his wife's earrings. When Catharina discovers this, Griet is forced to leave.
Ten years later, long after Griet has married Pieter and settled into life as a mother and butcher's wife, she is called back to the house upon Vermeer's death. Griet assumes that Vermeer's widow wishes to settle the household's unpaid fifteen-guilder bill with the butcher shop. Pieter laughs and says that he didn't mind losing the fifteen guilders because they bought him Griet as a wife. At the Vermeer house, Griet learns that even though Vermeer had made no effort to see or speak to her, he had remained very fond of the painting. In addition, Vermeer's will had included a request that Griet receive the pearl earrings that she wore when he painted her. However, Griet realizes that she could no more wear pearl earrings as a butcher's wife than she could as a maid. She then pawns the earrings for twenty guilders and fifteen guilders to her husband, claiming that Vermeer's widow had given her the coins to settle a debt with the butcher shop, but keeps five guilders to herself and never spends them.
[edit] Characters
- Griet, a sixteen-year old girl working as a servant in the Vermeer household, is the protagonist and narrator in the novel. Chevalier describes her as intelligent and perceptive, and that "she had an aesthetic eye that simply needed encouragement in order to flourish."[1]
- Johannes Vermeer, a Dutch painter. Chevalier noted she was "reluctant to flesh him out", and that she wanted to keep him mysterious since very little is known about his personality historically.[1]
- Catharina Vermeer, Johannes Vermeer's wife. Chevalier stated that it was easy for her to imagine Catharina's character since she herself was pregnant when she wrote the book.[1]
- Maria Thins, Vermeer's mother-in-law, who is cordial toward Griet.
- Tanneke, the Vermeers' other household servant who initially guides Griet through her duties.
- Maertge, Vermeer's eldest daughter who befriends Griet.
- Cornelia, the Vermeer's second daughter who antagonizes Griet throughout her stay.
- Pieter van Ruijven, Vermeer's patron who harbors lust toward Griet.
[edit] Reception
The novel reportedly sold over two million copies in thirty-six languages,[5] and was highly praised by critics and readers alike.[citation needed] It became an instant bestseller after its release and was acclaimed in many countries.[citation needed]
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
[edit] 2003 film
The book was adapted into a film of the same name directed by Peter Webber. It features Scarlett Johansson as Griet and Colin Firth as Johannes Vermeer.
[edit] Stage adaptation
The book has also been adapted into a stage play of the same name, which premiered at the Cambridge Arts Theatre in 2008.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Chevalier, Tracy (September 2005). Girl With a Pearl Earring Deluxe Edition. Penguin Group. pp. ix-xvi. ISBN 0452287022.
- ^ Chevalier, Tracy (December 28, 2003). "Mother of Pearl". guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2003/dec/28/fiction.features. Retrieved on 06-18-2009.
- ^ "Girl with a Pearl Earring - 1st Edition/1st State". Books Tell You Why. December 28, 2003. http://www.bookstellyouwhy.com/store/14380.htm. Retrieved on 06-18-2009.
- ^ Chevalier, Tracy (September 2005). Girl With a Pearl Earring Deluxe Edition. Penguin Group. ISBN 0452287022.
- ^ Gent, Paul (September 23, 2008). "Tracy Chevalier on letting go of Girl with a Pearl Earring". [The Daily Telegraph]]. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/3561128/Tracy-Chevalier-on-letting-go-of-Girl-with-a-Pearl-Earring.html. Retrieved on 06-18-2009.
