Girl with a Pearl Earring | Teaching Key Figures

Character Descriptions

This section provides a short description of all the major characters in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework section to find worksheets that incorporate these descriptions into a variety of question formats.

Characters

Griet - This character starts as a sixteen-year-old girl who does domestic work and is from a very religious family.

Johannes Vermeer - This character is a famous seventeenth century painter with eleven children.

Catharina Vermeer - This character is constantly pregnant, clumsy, and jealous.

Tanneke - This character is a twenty-eight-year-old maid who has badly pockmarked skin from a childhood disease.

Maria Thins - This character is perceptive, cunning, and appears to be able to read minds.

Pieter the Butcher - This character works in Market Hall and openly flirts with girls,...
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