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Father
Pieter the Butcher is the butcher patronized by Catharina. He runs his meat stall with his son, also named Pieter. Pieter the Butcher is a handsome, gregarious man with a loud voice and a tendency to joke with and tease Griet. Still, he helps protect Griet from van Ruijven at Franciscus’s birth feast.
Pieter the Butcher Quotes in Girl with a Pearl Earring
The Girl with a Pearl Earring quotes below are all either spoken by Pieter the Butcher or refer to Pieter the Butcher. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2: 1665
Quotes
“Oh yes, that story went all around the Meat Hall,” he answered, chuckling. […] “It was several years ago now. It seems van Ruijven wanted one of his kitchen maids to sit for a painting with him. They dressed her in one of his wife’s gowns, a red one, and van Ruijven made sure there was wine in the painting so he could get her to drink every time they sat together. Sure enough, before the painting was finished she was carrying van Ruijven’s child.”
“What happened to her?”
Pieter shrugged, “What happens to girls like that?”
His words froze my blood. Of course I had heard such stories before, but never one so close to me. I thought about my dreams of wearing Catharina’s clothes, of van Ruijven grasping my chin in the hallway, of him saying “You should paint her” to my master.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4: 1676
Quotes
At first it was very hard for me. When I saw him I froze wherever I was, my chest tightened, and I could not get my breath. I had to hide my response from Pieter the father and son, from my mother, from the curious market gossips.
For a long time I thought I might still matter to him.
After a while, though, I admitted to myself that he had always cared more for the painting of me than for me.
It grew easier to accept when Jan was born. My son made me turn inward to my family, as I had done when I was a child, before I became a maid. I was so busy with him that I did not have time to look out and around me. […] When I saw my old master across the square my heart no longer squeezed itself like a fist.
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Pieter the Butcher Quotes in Girl with a Pearl Earring
The Girl with a Pearl Earring quotes below are all either spoken by Pieter the Butcher or refer to Pieter the Butcher. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2: 1665
Quotes
“Oh yes, that story went all around the Meat Hall,” he answered, chuckling. […] “It was several years ago now. It seems van Ruijven wanted one of his kitchen maids to sit for a painting with him. They dressed her in one of his wife’s gowns, a red one, and van Ruijven made sure there was wine in the painting so he could get her to drink every time they sat together. Sure enough, before the painting was finished she was carrying van Ruijven’s child.”
“What happened to her?”
Pieter shrugged, “What happens to girls like that?”
His words froze my blood. Of course I had heard such stories before, but never one so close to me. I thought about my dreams of wearing Catharina’s clothes, of van Ruijven grasping my chin in the hallway, of him saying “You should paint her” to my master.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4: 1676
Quotes
At first it was very hard for me. When I saw him I froze wherever I was, my chest tightened, and I could not get my breath. I had to hide my response from Pieter the father and son, from my mother, from the curious market gossips.
For a long time I thought I might still matter to him.
After a while, though, I admitted to myself that he had always cared more for the painting of me than for me.
It grew easier to accept when Jan was born. My son made me turn inward to my family, as I had done when I was a child, before I became a maid. I was so busy with him that I did not have time to look out and around me. […] When I saw my old master across the square my heart no longer squeezed itself like a fist.
