Who is that person?

The young girl in the twenty second portrait stands alone with a flowery bow tucked behind her ear. Her white dress gracefully falls slightly below her knees and a pink background provides a complement to the assorted pink, yellow, and orange flowers that create an empire waistline on the garment.
The colors and textures used by the artist create a scene of innocence. The white on the girl’s dress is often associated with purity. For example giving or receiving white roses is often meant to appreciate the innocence of a person. Also, the abundance of flowers in the scene reminds me of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in which the fair Ophelia is compared to a blooming flower. After the death of her father Ophelia sings song and hands out flowers even when her innocent mind is overwhelmed by the evils in the world. At a moments glance, this child represents the innocence and beauty of youth; however many clues lead me to believe otherwise.
The girl’s actually age seems to be masked by her ornate attire. She is dressed like a woman attending a formal party or dance; however, the girl’s age appears to be merely twelve or thirteen. Her figure is that of a child before the onset of puberty. She lacks the figure of a woman; her frail and petite body has few feminine curves. She is wearing a flowing dress that would be worn maybe to a fancy dinner by an older woman; however, the dress fits her petite body. Only a child of a wealthy status would have such a nice dress, which leads me to believe that she is a child to wealthy parents who would have a dress tailored to fit their young daughter.
The face of this girl is very refined and serene (not what you would expect from a child)—her eyes seem to stare through the world but not at it. It appears to me that her childhood was controlled and her youthful vigor was removed by her proper and wealthy parents. Her pale skin is an indication that she has been restricted and not allowed to play outside with other children. To me this picture represents a child of aristocratic parents; ones who forced their daughter into womanhood and therefore she missed out on how a girl’s childhood should be.
Looking at this picture, I believe it is in her room, the beautiful hand painted walls and carpeting reflect the wealth of her family. However, she is standing in the shadow of cats, birds, and a fish, which is intended to show what she has missed out. Her parents forced her to be the proper daughter--she took etiquette classes while all the other children played outside. All she wanted to do was run and play with kittens and birds; however, she was given a beautiful room and beautiful clothes and was shaped into the “perfect daughter.” The puddle at her feet shows what she really wanted and what she missed out on.
Standing alone in her room, she represents how easily children can be shaped by their parent’s desires. However, as one would imagine, a proper woman of whom her parents wanted her to be would be gracefully standing with her feet together; however, this girl has more of a stance of a tomboy--her legs are spread apart--which would be considered very unladylike. Her stance is the culmination of her confusion…is she a proper woman, or is she still the child she longs to be? Instead of reflecting the innocence of childhood, this portrait deeply explores the confusion of a lost girl prematurely forced into womanhood.