It is a long, profound novel of great erudition, mainly set in London. The author reflects on the psychology and thoughts of each character, contrasts interlocutors while criticizing hypocrisy in general, the English high society, and antisemitism. However, the novel primarily focuses on religious Jewish nationalism at a time when Jewish "assimilation" was already a reality, especially in Central Europe.
Although it is a classic realist novel, its structure is complex at the beginning, as it starts with events that occur later in the story and only afterward recounts the actual beginning of the plot. Daniel Deronda and Gwendolen, the protagonists, meet for the first time in a casino; he watches as Gwendolen loses at roulette, and his gaze makes her abandon the game, though she finds his stare exasperating. That encounter will mark Gwendolen’s life.
Daniel is the adopted son of an English baron, Sir Hugo Mallinger, who has raised him as an English gentleman and treats him with affection but has never revealed his origins. Daniel believes Sir Hugo is his father and that he is illegitimate. He does not dare to investigate further, as he does not want to sadden Sir Hugo (nor does he want to face the truth), but he is tormented by his ignorance of who his mother is. Daniel is highly intelligent and has developed a reflective, generous, affectionate, and compassionate personality.
In contrast, Gwendolen is selfish and capricious, believing she deserves admiration for her many qualities. She does not want to be controlled and despises marriage, yet when her family falls into financial ruin, she decides to marry a wealthy man, Grandcourt, Sir Hugo’s nephew, thinking she will be able to dominate her husband. She marries him despite knowing strong reasons not to do so.
Deronda, having completed his studies, is contemplating his future, but his decision becomes complicated when he rescues a Jewish girl from the Thames who has fled from her father, taking responsibility for her well-being. Through her, Mirah, he meets her brother Mordecai, which will shape his destiny.
The lives of these characters intertwine unexpectedly, creating tension due to Gwendolen’s troubled marriage, Mirah’s beauty, kindness, and struggles, Daniel’s friend Hans falling in love, and more. In the background, the Jews appear as a despised group within English society, drawing a parallel with the situation of oppressed women.
Daniel Deronda (1876), beyond its literary quality, is a pioneering novel in addressing Judaism without racist stereotypes. Moreover, it is a reflection and exploration of the most difficult aspects of human nature: affection, love, hypocrisy, friendship, identity, social conventions, fear, tenderness, submission, hatred, despair, secrecy, and deceit. It is George Eliot’s last great novel, the only one dedicated to Victorian society, and one of the most complex and innovative. It presents ideas that would later be taken up by Zionism. The novel had a significant impact and has been reprinted multiple times. Film and television adaptations were made in 1921, 1970, and 2002.
George Eliot (1819–1880) was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. She was an English writer, poet, and translator (she knew Greek, Latin, German, and more). She was highly intelligent and an avid reader from childhood. She received a strict religious education but declared herself agnostic at the age of seventeen. When her father learned of her agnosticism, he threatened to expel her from the house.
When her mother died in 1836, she had to abandon her studies (though she had a tutor) and remained at home caring for her father until his death when she was thirty. Her early novels depict her hometown with great descriptive power.
Her works fall within realism, but she does not neglect the psychology of her characters and created many strong female figures. The themes of her most important novels revolve around intellectual passions of great significance rather than the fashionable romanticism of the time. She was not interested in marriage, as was customary, and these ideas appear in her writings.
With the historical novel Romola (1863), she entered her mature phase, to which Daniel Deronda also belongs. She is considered one of the most original and renowned novelists of her time.