Product Description

Only in her final novel, in 1876, did George Eliot turn to contemporary English and European life as material for the expression of her own idealism. Daniel Deronda is a psychologically incisive investigation, probing the egoism of a spoiled girl and her increasing awareness of conscience through suffering. Gwendolen comes to regard Daniel as her moral and spiritual mentor, but chance, the revelation of his Jewish birth, and his practical and sympathetic identification with his race draw him away from her. The text is that of Graham Handley's Clarendon edition, which is based on the novel's first published form. emergent nationalism and the bitter internal struggle

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #113154 in Books
• Published on: 1995-10-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 896 pages

Synopsis
This novel uses the hero, Deronda, to come to terms with the English Jews, a society-within-a-society. The book's heroine, Gwendolen Harleth, marries for power rather than love, uncovering a vein in human relations that could lead, through the best intentions, to despair.

Customer Reviews

"Visions are the creators and feeders of the world. I see. I measure the world as it is, which the vision will create anew."
In what may be her most exciting and original novel, George Eliot weaves two completely different plots, one of which is a uniquely sympathetic and fully developed story with Jewish protagonists. Presenting no Jewish stereotypes, as we see in Dickens (in Oliver Twist and other novels) and even Trollope (with The Way We Live Now (Barnes & Noble Classics)), she depicts characters who have, in one case, tried to avoid their heritage and in another have been drawn irrevocably to a religion and culture with which they have had no previous contact.

Daniel Deronda, a young man who has been brought up as an English gentleman by Sir Hugo Mallinger, has never known his real parents, secretly fearing that he is illegitimate. As time passes, he longs to understand the circumstances of his birth, especially after Sir Hugo marries and produces heirs of his own. Beautiful Gwendolen Harleth, selfish and manipulative, is romantically attracted to Daniel, but a sudden change in her family's financial status leads her into a precipitous but financially advantageous marriage to the arrogant Henleigh Grandcourt. Meanwhile, Daniel saves a young woman from drowning herself, a singer named Mirah Lapidoth who is in despair. Mirah, a Jew, had been stolen from her family by her father, whom she suspects planned to sell her into white slavery, and she desperately misses her mother and brother, whom she can no longer find. As she progresses with her singing career, she never forgets her heritage, of which she is inordinately proud.

As Eliot develops the various social settings of this fascinating novel, written in 1876, a full picture of British society evolves. To protect Mirah from her father and her own despair, Daniel places her in the home of friends and resolves to try to find her family. When Daniel discovers her brother Mordecai, a Jewish mystic and seer, Mordecai is convinced, against all odds, that Daniel is Jewish--and is the person who will carry his visions for a Jewish nation to fruition. As the novel develops further, Eliot explores Jewish mysticism, religious traditions, and cultural heritage, even as she also uses the shallow, aristocratic life of Gwendolen Harleth Grandcourt as a contrast to that of Mirah.

The novel is unique in its favorable and lengthy depiction of Judaism and in its illustration of Judaism's cultural superiority to superficial, aristocratic British life. Mirah and her family take center stage in terms of sympathy, despite the fact the Gwendolen, who in other novels might have been the heroine, suffers terribly in her miserable marriage to Grandcourt. Daring to do something completely different with this complex novel, which was her last, Eliot's vision and seriousness of purpose here created enormous controversy and presaged a new direction for the novel. n Mary Whipple

Middlemarch (Wordsworth Classics)
The Mill on the Floss (Penguin Classics)
Adam Bede (Wordsworth Classics)
George Eliot: The Last Victorian

Hugely underrated and surprisingly modern
Although academically Middlemarch is always regarded as Eliot's masterpiece, I've always thought this novel deserves the title. Unlike another reviewer here I don't think the characters are either shallow or 2-dimensional, and it's important that Gwendolen starts off as being a conventional spoilt beauty because that makes her growth and change all the more compelling and significant.
As a woman writing in 19th century England, Eliot bravely highlights the impacts of poverty and the implications for women who are forced to prostitute themselves effectively in the marriage market, since a career is out of the question. This is the dark underside of Jane Austen and an important antidote to that sunny view of male/female relationships and the economic reality behind them.
The other brave element in this book is the theme of Jewishness which was glossed over in most of the literature of this period. It is the clash and interraction of the 2 related prejudices of gender and race/religion that give this book its resonance and importance in my view and its relevance to today.

Forced but enjoyable reading
Going into my second year of university I can not say seeing another George Eliot novel on my reading list filled me happiness. In first year having to read 'Middlemarch' took up a good third of my time. Well, what do you expect with 86 chapters? Believe it or not seeing 'Daniel Deronda' had only 70 was actually a relief. However time-consuming (three weeks reading everyday) a reader can always expect an intricate and mostly enthralling story. This story though more focused and less sprawling than 'Middlemarch' this story leaves you feeling more confused and less satisfied than said other work.
The relationships are fascinating and keeps the reader (or student) guessing until the very end however you do not really care. Yes the title character is on certain levels endearing but he is nowhere near as charming as little Jacob who is present in the novel for too short a time. Gwendolen Harleth comes across as a spoilt little mummy's girl who deserves the end she gets. However her legacy is more daring and tragic than anyone could expect.
However it is the theme of Judaism that kept me interested. The prejudice and discovery associated with it provided the depth to quite shallow characters, especially Daniel. We see he is tortured because he feels there is something missing in his life and he discovers it is his faith. As has been said Jacob and the rest of the Cohen family are the richest and most enjoyable sections of the novel. You feel there is something missing when they are not mentioned, they are a tender family that makes the fact you have 45 more chapters to go bearable!