The Miniaturist

“Souls and purses, she thinks, these two are obsessed with souls and purses.” 

Listening to Marin and Johannes talking, Nella concludes they are fixated on religion and money. Her assessment sums up the contradictory values of Amsterdam, where citizens enjoy wealth while also being expected to adhere to Calvinist principles of frugality. The novel demonstrates how this conflict ultimately creates a society built on secrecy and hypocrisy.

“I am too old for this, she thinks. Who will see this piece of work, who will be able to sit on those chairs, or eat the waxen food? She has no friends, no family in this city to come and exclaim at it—it is a monument to her powerlessness, her arrested womanhood.”

When Johannes presents her with the cabinet, Nella is initially dismayed, perceiving it as a toy for a child; she feels it highlights her failure to transition from girl to woman. A central symbol of the novel, the cabinet represents Nella’s life. At this stage of the narrative, the dollhouse reflects the protagonist’s sense of “powerlessness” in the household she should be the mistress of.

“‘EVERY WOMAN IS THE ARCHITECT OF HER OWN FORTUNE.’ Nella reads it twice, puzzled, a feather-thrum of excitement in her belly. Women don’t build anything, let alone their own fates, she thinks. All our fates are in the hands of God—and women’s in particular, after their husbands have passed them through their fingers and childbirth has put them through the wringer.”

The miniaturist’s first cryptic message to Nella introduces her to the concept of female autonomy—a major theme of the novel. Raised to believe that women can exert no influence in the world and that their lives are in the hands of men, Nella is doubtful yet excited by the suggestion that she can take control of her own fate.

“Here she is a puppet, a vessel for others to pour their speech. And it is not a man she has married, but a world. Silversmiths, a sister-in-law, strange acquaintances, a house she feels lost in, a smaller one that frightens her. There is ostensibly so much on offer, but Nella feels that something is being taken away.”

Nella struggles to reconcile herself to the new circumstances of her life. Not yet privy to the secrets of the Brandt household, she remains an outsider. Although she has gained wealth by marrying Johannes, her sense that “something is being taken away” refers to the loss of her dreams of conventional marriage and motherhood.

“Perhaps it is something in this house, Nella thinks, some permissiveness I do not understand. Life here is indeed topsy-turvy—seeming wrong, but shining a light on them all.”

Nella’s observation is prompted by Cornelia’s familiarity. The “permissiveness” she senses in the household stems from Johannes’s belief in equality. The servants speak to their employers as equals, and Johannes treats Marin and Nella with the respect he would afford any man. Nella initially finds the lack of patriarchal authority in the house unsettling, but as her character evolves, she comes to appreciate its freedoms.

“Words are water in this city […] One drop of rumour could drown us.”

Marin emphasizes the importance of maintaining “respectable” appearances in Amsterdam to survive. Her figurative comparison of words to water underlines the novel’s recurring motif of a rising tide. Marin’s fear that even a hint of unfavorable gossip could “drown” them foreshadows Johannes’s execution.

“No one is ever truly alone in this house; there will always be someone watching or listening. Doesn’t she herself listen—to footsteps, closing doors, those hurried whisperings.”

Nella’s reflection emphasizes the novel’s motif of observation. While the protagonist feels she is always watched, she acknowledges that she is also guilty of spying on the other members of the household. This constant state of surveillance in the house echoes the atmosphere of Amsterdam, where citizens are encouraged to observe their neighbors for signs of sin.

“Since arriving, a great part of her has urged, even attempted, to transform herself into what she has long assumed is a real wife, a proper woman. She has spent so long craving this transformation, solidifying it in her mind, she has become oblivious to its ambiguity. Now, the proper woman loses all her meaning. Nella’s solid desire is fragmenting, a mist inside her head. What does it even mean, to be a real wife?”

When Nella discovers Johannes’s sexual orientation, she experiences an identity crisis. Her deeply ingrained notions of gender roles lead her to believe she will never be a “proper” woman. Here, Nella is shown in the initial stages of reassessing her identity as a woman beyond romantic love and motherhood.

“The canal is a year-long dumping ground and as it solidifies with the cold, past deeds rise to be scrutinized by the rest of the city.”

When the Herengracht Canal freezes, items rise to its surface, including a limbless man who has been murdered. This phenomenon is a metaphor for the atmosphere of 17th-century Amsterdam. Strict laws, guided by Calvinist principles, force the city’s citizens into secrecy, but the novel suggests that, sooner or later, secrets always come to light. The event foreshadows the public revelation of Johannes’s sexual orientation and its consequences.

“Nella almost wants to be spied on. It would make her feel alive.”

This quote illustrates Nella’s changing attitude to the miniaturist’s gaze. At the beginning of the novel, the protagonist feels the miniaturist’s constant observation of her is intrusive. However, as Nella begins to understand the miniaturist is urging her toward independence, she feels her scrutiny is a positive acknowledgment of her existence.

“Wearing her hidden fur, eating her secret stash of candied walnuts, protecting her unholy brother, Marin lives in two worlds. Is her deathless public propriety really a fear of God, or a fear of herself?”

This passage summarizes the contradictions of Marin’s character. Behind her veneer of piety and frugality, Nella’s sister-in-law secretly indulges in luxuries and conceals Johannes’s sexual orientation. Marin’s character illustrates the duplicity required in the hypocritical society of Amsterdam. One’s true self must be carefully hidden in order to survive.

“This house is the only place any of us are free.”

Johannes evokes the symbolism of freedom versus imprisonment that runs throughout the novel. He reminds Marin that in the privacy of their home, they can all enjoy a freedom that is inaccessible in the outside world. Within the house, Otto and Cornelia are treated as equals, Marin and Nella are free of gender restrictions, and Johannes does not have to hide his sexual orientation.

“In showing me my own story, she thinks, the miniaturist has become the author of it herself. How I wish I could have it back.”

The final line of Part 3 illustrates how Nella’s sense of identity becomes inextricably linked with that of the miniaturist. At this stage, Nella believes that the miniaturist is the “author” of Nella’s life due to her uncanny insight into events. However, she eventually realizes that the miniaturist’s aim is to encourage women to take control of their own narratives.

“Nella supposes it is something to be appreciated at last, if she cannot be loved. Finding substitutes for the real thing—when will that ever stop? And yet, she would rather stay next to him than be anywhere else.”

This quote illustrates the platonic love that develops between Nella and her husband when the couple holds hands in Johannes’s prison cell. At this moment, Nella realizes that their connection is just as profound as the romantic love she craved.

“The key to the warehouse still hangs round her neck, warmed by her skin, worth more to her than any silver necklace Johannes would have commissioned.”

This observation by Nella refers back to the moment when she mistakenly believed Johannes would kiss her, but instead, he promised her a silver necklace. When Nella hangs the warehouse key around her neck, it symbolizes her determination to take control of her fate. After selling a batch of sugar to Arnoud Maakvrede, Nella experiences a sense of power more valuable than any jewelry.

“It seems that Marin viewed marriage as a ceding of something, whereas so many women—including my own mother, Nella realizes—see it as the only possible form of influence a woman may have.”

When Nella learns that, despite loving Frans Meermans, Marin did not want to be his wife, she gains a new perspective on marriage. Realizing that Marin possesses more power as a single woman than a wife, Nella reassesses her perception of marriage and children as the ultimate female goal. Her epiphany underlines the theme of Gender Roles and Autonomy.

“You put on that costume in the morning, Pieter Slabbaert […] As do you, Frans Meermans—and you both hide your own sins and your weaknesses in a box under your beds, and you hope we’ll forget them in the dazzle of your robes.”

During his trial, Johannes condemns the hypocrisy of his accusers. He suggests that everyone in the courtroom is guilty of sin, including the judge. Johannes’s speech emphasizes the corrupt values at the heart of Amsterdam. The novel draws attention to how the authorities treat Johannes as a scapegoat, punishing him for the sins of the entire city.

“We are legion, we women; in thrall to the miniaturist. I thought she was stealing my life, but in truth she opened its compartments and let me look inside.”

Discovering the miniaturist was communicating with many other women, Nella finally feels confident about the mysterious craftswoman’s intentions. By sending meaningful items for her cabinet, the miniaturist provided Nella with new insight into her own life. The observation clarifies the symbolism of the cabinet in the novel.

“Petronella long desired to live outside the boundaries of measured time. Always wayward, always curious. She mocked the way people clung to their time-pieces, how everything had to be in order.” 

Here, the miniaturist’s father, Lucas Windelbreke, describes his daughter’s refusal to create traditional clocks as his apprentice. The miniaturist’s disregard for “measured time” signals her recognition that it is a human construct. Like all other boundaries created by society, clock time can be accepted or ignored by the individual. The miniaturist’s subversive attitude toward societal rules (particularly those associated with gender) make her a perpetual outsider.

“Marin’s cleverness has endured until the end, enabling her to leave unseen. Her spirit has slipped through their fingers. Even in her final breath has she evaded, keeping for herself the moment of her death.”

While Marin’s secret pregnancy is finally revealed in the narrative, her character remains enigmatic and unknowable. Her unwitnessed death is in keeping with her private nature, signaling a determination to control her own narrative until the end. The title of this chapter, “A Closing Door,” evokes the image of Marin shutting the door of her life in the faces of curious onlookers.

“Pellicorne looks at the money. It is money coming from the wife of a sodomite. It is money coming from a woman. It is the deep-lying root of evil, but it is a lot of money.”

Amsterdam’s conflict between spirituality and materialism is illustrated in Pastor Pellicorne’s reasoning when faced with Nella’s bribe. According to the pastor’s spiritual beliefs, the incentive Nella offers for Marin’s burial is “tainted” by sin. Nevertheless, the repetition of the word money in his train of thought highlights his mercenary nature. The pastor is persuaded by the large sum, demonstrating his hypocrisy.

“Civic-mindedness, neighbourly surveillance, everyone checking up on everybody else—that’s what keeps this city ticking on.”

The motif of observation is emphasized as the narrator ironically reflects on its role in Amsterdam’s society. The oxymoron “neighbourly surveillance” illustrates how spying on others is presented as not only acceptable in the city but a necessary civic duty. It is this principle that Frans Meermans takes advantage of when he reports Johannes’s “assault” on Jack.

“The young widow, the wet-nurse, Otto and Thea, Cornelia—will they come to know the secrets of each other’s lives? They are all loose threads—but that has ever been the case, thinks Nella. We make a hopeful tapestry; no one to weave it but ourselves.”

With the deaths of Marin and Johannes, Nella forms a new household with the servants, the wet nurse, and her sister-in-law’s baby. Continuing the concept of unconventional family units, the arrangement is built on mutual trust. The new make-up of the Brandt household underlines the novel’s message that life does not have to be lived within the boundaries set by society.