37 often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be
fictional. The novel opens on Griet’s house in Delft and the whole novel is set in Delft, the Netherlands and mainly in the Vermeer’s studio.
The story throughout is narrated from Griet’s perspective, in the first person point of view. Her way to tell the story is clear and descriptive, about the
paintings and the characters itself. Despite its title, Girl with a Pearl Earring is not situated in the context of the history of painting, but stays focused on the
human relationship, especially between Vermeer and Griet, and more in the domain of psychological insight. This novel is a work that focuses on the essence
of the painting’s charm, the earring. Chevalier started researching by reading the entire catalogue for the 1996 Exhibition at The Hague. She was doing a
combination of research in Delft and writing at the same time. Chevalier spent four days in Delft, a couple of days in Amsterdam, and
The Hague where the painting that inspired the novel is in a museum. She wrote her novel when she was pregnant so that it was easier for her to tell the character
of Catharina that seems to be always pregnant in the novel. “She finished the work in just eight months, because she had a “biological deadline” The GuardianThe
Observer, 2003.
B. Approach of the Study
This study uses psychological approach. Psychological approach is used to answer the formulated question. This approach can help the writer to understand
the three main characters’ personality better and the true meaning of the pearl
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38 earrings. The psychological approach is also useful for the writer to find the
extrinsic aspects of the novel or the deeper meaning.
C. Method of the Study
The method used in the study was library and Internet research. Two kinds of sources were used; they were the primary and the secondary sources. The
primary source was Girl with a Pearl Earring novel. The secondary sources were books and articles on theories and reviews used in the analysis. The research is
conducted in several steps. The first step was to select a literary work that was going to be analysed. The second step was the technical reading of the novel as
fundamental step before turning to further analysis. As the object of this study, the authoritative text of the novelette as obtained from the 2000’s of Tracy
Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Harper Collins Publisher London is used.
The reading is conducted to recognize the data; particularly those dealing with the character of Vermeer, Catharina, and Griet―the major characters in the
story―and the pearl earrings. The third step was deciding the topic to be discussed. Additionally, the writer concluded the analysis into two problem
formulations. The next step after formulating the problems related to the topic and finding the appropriate approach employed in the analysis was finding the
secondary sources related to the topic or problems that would be analysed. In this step, the writer found the secondary data from some books and online references
as stated above. The next step was answering or analysing the problem
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39 formulations. In this step, the writer tried to answer the problem formulations by
using the primary and secondary data. Here, the writer tried to apply the theories and reviews from the secondary
data to the story of the primary data. In the analysis, the writer focused on Vermeer, Catharina, and Griet’s character by observing their attitudes, actions,
behaviour, conversations, or other’s opinion towards them. Then, the writer gave some explanations on their characters clearly. After that, the writer focused on the
conditions on the society at the time of Vermeer, Catharina, and Griet’s life. Here, the writer tried to apply the information of the socio-historical background as it
could give additional information to the characters’ life outside the information given from the primary data. Afterwards, the theory of symbol, love, and
psychological are used to answer the second problem formulations. The last step was to conclude the study of the novel. In this step the writer
concluded the important points of the analysis as the result of the analysis and gave some suggestions to the future researchers who want to analyse Girl with a
Pearl Earring.
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40
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
