Daniel Deronda (1876) is George Eliot's last novel. It follows two stories: the proud Gwendolen Harleth, trapped in a cruel marriage to the cold Grandcourt, and Daniel Deronda, a young Englishman who discovers his Jewish origins.
Two stories
Gwendolen marries the wealthy Henleigh Grandcourt to save her family from poverty, though she knows of his past. The marriage becomes a slow torment, and Daniel becomes her moral guide.
Daniel, raised as the ward of an English gentleman, rescues a young Jewish singer, Mirah, from drowning, meets her brother Mordecai and learns that his own mother was a Jewish singer.
A sympathetic portrait
Eliot studied Hebrew and Jewish history to write the novel, which presents Jewish characters with a respect unusual in Victorian fiction.
Mordecai's hope for a Jewish national home was later cited by early Zionist thinkers.
Structure
The novel opens in the middle of the action, at a gambling table in a German spa, where Daniel first sees Gwendolen.
It was published by Blackwood in eight monthly parts from February to September 1876, then in four volumes.
Anecdotes
A street in Tel Aviv
Several cities in Israel have streets named after George Eliot, in recognition of Daniel Deronda.
Leavis's Gwendolen
The critic F. R. Leavis admired Gwendolen's story so much that he suggested publishing it separately as Gwendolen Harleth, a proposal most critics rejected.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Daniel Deronda?
A young Englishman who discovers that he was born Jewish.
Who is Gwendolen Harleth?
A proud young woman who makes an unhappy marriage to Grandcourt.
Was it George Eliot's last novel?
Yes, published in 1876.