62 pages • 2 hours read
Jessie BurtonThe Miniaturist
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Gender Roles and Autonomy
The restrictive nature of gender roles is a central theme of The Miniaturist. Throughout the novel, Burton emphasizes the pressures of 17th-century social expectations. Presenting characters whose desires lie beyond the perimeter of gender constraints, the novel explores how far autonomy is possible in this context.
At the start of the novel, Nella has internalized stereotypical notions of femininity, largely learned from her mother. The protagonist’s conviction that a woman can find purpose only in the roles of wife and mother demonstrates how the dictates of society have shaped her desires. Nella’s initial discomfort in the Brandt household stems from her consciousness that no one in the “topsy turvy” house fulfills their prescribed roles. The servants are not subservient, her husband avoids consummating their marriage, and her sister-in-law is both the master and mistress of the house.
Nella’s changing feelings about traditional gender roles are expressed through the novel’s bird and cage imagery. When she discovers Johannes’s sexual orientation, Nella feels caged in a marriage that she believes precludes her fulfillment as a woman. However, she gradually sees that her situation affords freedoms that women in conventional marriages do not experience. Witnessing Marin’s agency as a single woman, Nella begins to understand why her sister-in-law perceives “marriage as a ceding of something” rather than an accomplishment (317). Agnes Meermans becomes an example of how marriage can constrict a woman’s autonomy: She brings wealth to the marriage through her sugar plantation, but both she and her estate become Frans’s property. Agnes’s gradual diminishment to a shadow of her former self illustrates her loss of autonomy under a controlling husband. By contrast, Nella’s unconventional marriage allows her to grow and trust in her own capabilities.
The character of the miniaturist embodies female autonomy. By living alone and ignoring Amsterdam’s professional restrictions on women, she defies the limitations of enforced gender roles. The miniaturist’s communications with the city’s women aim to prompt reflection on their roles and encourage them to believe that “EVERY WOMAN IS THE ARCHITECT OF HER OWN FORTUNE” (76). However, the price the miniaturist pays for her freedom is societal alienation. For the other female characters, a degree of autonomy is shown to be possible, provided they conceal it from the world. Thus, Hanna and Marin make business decisions behind the scenes, while Nella sells the sugar via a forged letter bearing her husband’s name. Feminine power is possible, but only if it is wielded covertly.
The Contradictions of Amsterdam
The Miniaturist highlights the contradictions of the Dutch Golden Age. At the peak of its prosperity, Amsterdam’s wealth is built on trading and acquisition—but the city is also governed by strict Calvinist tenets that warn against greed and promote frugality. Johannes sums up this untenable clash between Puritanism and materialism, describing Amsterdam as the city “[w]here the pendulum swings from God to a guilder” (407). Exploring the impact of these contradictions on Amsterdam’s inhabitants, the novel illustrates how the clash inevitably leads to a culture of secrecy and hypocrisy.
Nella’s early, confusing experiences in the Brandt household offer a microcosm of Amsterdam’s society. As an outsider, the protagonist is struck by the incongruity between the house’s grand exterior, which proudly advertises her husband’s wealth, and the frugal lifestyle she encounters within. While Marin’s insistence on herring meals and cheap candles suggests the Brandts are not as wealthy as they appear, Johannes’s extravagant wedding gift to Nella tells a different story. The discordant combination of thrift and affluence reflects Amsterdammers’ unease about their prosperity, and their fear of its spiritual cost.
Marin’s character embodies the schism between appearances and reality in Amsterdam. Outwardly, Marin’s severe style of dress and demeanor reflect the city’s Calvinist ethos, but “underneath’s a different story” (61). Marin’s austere exterior conceals a sensual love of luxury, secretly expressed in her fur-lined dresses, exotic boudoir, and concealed stash of sugared walnuts.
Marin’s duplicity results from an unhealthy society that demands dissimulation from its citizens. Hypocrisy is modeled from the top down by Amsterdam’s authority figures. The city’s spiritual leader, Pastor Pellicorne, condemns materialism in his congregation while wearing fine clothes and accepting bribes from “sinners.” Attending his services is a requirement that has more to do with the public appearance of piety than genuine spirituality. Similarly, Frans Meermans purports to uphold the law and God’s will as a member of the St. George Militia but lies in court in a petty act of revenge. In this corrupt atmosphere of inconsistent moral values, presenting a false veneer to the world is a necessary survival strategy. Individuals must conceal personal desires and avoid the conspicuous enjoyment of their wealth.
Within months of arriving in Amsterdam, Nella learns to “tuck her real self away as Marin does” (323). However, Johannes’s hatred of hypocrisy means he is careless about maintaining false appearances. While he reluctantly agrees to a sham marriage, he fails to attend church and makes little attempt to conceal his liaisons with Jack. Ultimately, Johannes pays for his honesty with his life. The wealthy merchant becomes a scapegoat for the city’s unease about its incompatible values. By punishing Johannes as an example of corruption caused by greed, Amsterdam hopes to exorcise its sins.
The Nature of Love
At the beginning of the novel, Nella perceives herself as the heroine of a romance. Her notions of marriage entail “true love, […] marriage beds, laughter and children” (110). However, the novel soon reveals that Johannes is gay. Nella’s realization that she will not experience romantic love with her husband prompts the narrative’s nuanced exploration of the nature of love in many forms.
Nella’s romantic expectations of Johannes are an example of misplaced love. In love with the idea of being in love, the protagonist projects her romantic fantasies upon her husband. Her devastation at discovering Johannes with Jack is not so much sexual jealousy but a sense of loss at the death of her dreams. Nevertheless, as Nella gets to know Johannes, her fixation on romantic love fades, and platonic love develops between them. What begins as a sham marriage becomes a meaningful union as Nella supports Johannes through his imprisonment and trial. Consequently, Nella thinks of the final hour she spends with her husband, holding his hand, “as her first wedding night, a communion where no words were needed” (412).
A further example of devoted, nonsexual love in the narrative is that between siblings Marin and Johannes. At first, their relationship appears to be one of conflict and resentment. During their arguments, Marin accuses her brother of thoughtlessly compromising their safety, while, in a moment of anger, Johannes claims Marin is a burden. However, as the secrets of the Brandts are revealed, the siblings’ deep loyalty to each other becomes apparent. Marin constantly rebukes Johannes’s behavior because she fears that her brother will be executed if his sexual orientation is discovered. The rift with Frans Meermans results from Johannes protecting his sister. By taking responsibility for prohibiting Marin’s marriage, Johannes secures his sister’s independence while shielding her reputation.
By contrast, the novel depicts passionate, romantic love as a dangerous force, though that danger stems just as much from an intolerant, oppressive society as from the love itself. Otto and Marin’s taboo relationship results in Marin’s death due to the necessity of keeping her pregnancy a secret. Johannes’s infatuation with Jack also proves fatal when his lover betrays him to the authorities for money. Agnes’s one-sided love for her husband acts like “a poison” (409), causing her to lie for Frans in court, even as she realizes that he has married her for mercenary reasons. By illustrating the negative impact of their passions on these characters, the novel subverts the notion that romance is always the most fulfilling kind of love.
