Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter consists of four sections; they are background of the study, problem formulations, objective of the study, and definition of the terms. This study is aimed to see the true meanings of the pearl earrings to the three main characters as seen in Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. To achieve the goal of this writing, the writer uses theories of character, methods of characterization, theories of personality, psychological approach, theory of motivation, theories of symbol, and theories of love.

A. Background of the Study

According to Lombardi 2010, “literature represents a language or a people: culture and tradition. It introduces us to new worlds of experience.” On the other hand, literature can be a media to express feelings, ideas, thoughts, and even personal experience in life. By reading literary work, people can get the author’s ideas and thoughts. Therefore, by analysing the intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of the literary work, the reader can understand the work deeper. According to Penguin Group n.d. on the Reading Guides of Girl with a Pearl Earring, “in the mid 1660s of Delft—a small city in Holland with an art community that was growing rapidly—the famous artist Johannes Vermeer created a painting titled “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, which has been called the Dutch Mona Lisa. Girl with a Pearl Earring tells the story behind the creation of PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 2 this famous painting”. This writing talks about a novel titled Girl with a Pearl Earring that was written by Tracy Chevalier. This is a historical fiction about the creation of a painting named “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, which was painted by Johannes Vermeer’s on 1665. The writer chose this novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring, as the subject of the analysis because the writer is very interested in artwork, especially Johannes Vermeer’s paintings. Due to the fact that literature works are mirror of human life and their society, the writer is interested in studying the major character’s life in this novel. This novel is a combination of a historical fact and the novelist’s imagination, which tells the story behind the painting with the same title Girl with a Pearl Earring by the 17 th Century Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer. This is a wonderful novel where we can find an interesting art history aspect and artistic intensity, which create a gorgeous story of a young girl in a small city in Holland, Delft. Chevalier makes this novel become very interesting to read. She also keeps her audience wondering how the novel ended, which is closely the same as the true story about the painter’s life. The feeling between Vermeer and Griet, and the love in the life of Vermeer, Catharina, and Griet are presented with such emotion that it is nearly impossible to put this novel down. Their relationships are unique and their feelings are pure. It is about Griet’s personal sacrifice, longing for what she cannot be and have. This is more about a statement that life cannot always be like what we want it to be. Maids and daughters must listen to their masters and parents’ words. They do not seem to have their own lives. The writer also has specific reasons why PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 3 chooses Girl with a Pearl Earring as the novel to analyse. The first reason is because Tracy Chevalier’s work is very unique and interesting and the writer is interested in the story of the novel, which represents human nature. The second reason is that the writer is interested in Vermeer, one of the major characters of the novel. He is a Delft painter who is quite famous at that time but has quite big debt when he died. He has a complicated relationship with Griet, his maid that later becomes his assistant in his studio, even though he has had a beautiful wife and six children. The writer wants to explore through the content of the story to find out Vermeer, Catharina, and Griet’s characters. The writer will also analyse the social classes and art in order to have a deeper understanding about the social and art condition in the novel. The objective of this study is to see the true meaning of the pearl earrings to the three main characters as seen in Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. That was why the writer chose Girl with a Pearl Earring to be analysed.

B. Objective of the Study