Summary

When Magdalena finishes her chores, she runs to the sentry tower, where she enjoys the view, and the spaciousness of the landscape. She likes the colors, and dreams about painting them, like her father does.

Magdalena is “filled to bursting” by what she sees, but her emotions have little to do with the seedy quality of the sentry post, which her mother has told her not to visit. (p. 226).

Looking at the view, she reflects on her life, and wishes that she had more freedom, and that she wouldn’t be treated so badly by shopkeepers who are angry about the debts her family owes. She wishes her father would take her iceboating more often. If Magdalena painted, she says that she would paint more than women in cramped rooms—she would paint the world beyond the house. When Vermeer asks Magdalena to sit to be...