Friday, December 3, 2010

Response to Griet's Right Decision

            It is very difficult for Griet to make her decision with her love life, especially when she is young and unsure of herself. Pieter who can help her financially and support her family and Vermeer who sees things differently just like Griet.  I think she was being thrown into an adult world of responsibility and she still had the innocence of a child. She was caught between wanting more in life with love and doing what is expected of her. She wanted to have the perfect love and reveal herself to only one man. If I was Griet’s friend I would advise her to choose Pieter.

            I think that Vermeer and Griet were both attracted to each other and could possibly have fallen in love, but that the fixed social structure of their times did not let it happen. Griet and Vermeer would look mismatched because of their age difference, and they were socially different with different religion. Vermeer did not have the "power" or had limited “power” over Griet because he was also finically unstable and needed support from his mother in law Maria Thins, and his patron Van Rujivan who bought his paintings. He was simply being loyal to his wife and family, and would not do something that will affect his family or his wife by being with Griet. I do feel he had a special appreciation for Griet and considered her his friend. Yes it is true that Vermeer fell in love with the mysteriousness of Griet and with the way she also saw things in the way he did. But I don’t think he ever loved her in the sense of having affair with her or make her as his wife.

            Even though she shows that she does not love Pieter, I feel that she does, because one day when she went to the meat store, she did not see Pieter and cried because he was not their. She even admits she was crying for him. Even though he may smell bad or has bloody finger nails he was still attractive and he had his own business. Also Pieter was from the same religion and is near the same age as Griet; her family also accepted them to get married. The main reason why she kept saying she was too young to Pieter is because she was not ready to make any decisions. I think she did the right thing by thinking about it from her heart then just doing what her parents wanted her to do, even though they were right.       

            Griet is inconsistent and felt obligated because she wanted to help her family and because Pieter was a very eligible young man, and deep down she knows that he was the person to be with who makes her feel her self and not someone else. As if I was Griet's friend, I would advise her to choose Pieter because he can give her a new and a good status in the society then having the status of a maid.

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