Daniel Deronda Study Guide

Evans grew up on an estate managed by her father, where she developed a deep love for books and learning. After her mother’s death in 1836, she left formal schooling to care for her father but continued her education independently, mastering several languages and immersing herself in philosophy. Rejecting traditional Christianity, she moved to Coventry, where she joined intellectual circles that shaped her views on religion, society, and literature. Evans began her career as an assistant editor of The Westminster Review, writing essays and translating works like Strauss’s Life of Jesus. Encouraged by her partner, George Henry Lewes, she turned to fiction, adopting the male pseudonym George Eliot to ensure her works would be taken seriously. Her first novel, Adam Bede (1859), was an instant success, followed by The Mill on the Floss (1860) and Silas Marner (1861), which showcased her gift for exploring human relationships and moral dilemmas. Her masterpiece, Middlemarch (1871–1872), remains a landmark in English literature for its intricate portrayal of provincial life and social change. In her final novel, Daniel Deronda (1876), she broke new ground by addressing Jewish identity and Zionism, reflecting her intellectual curiosity and moral courage. Eliot died on December 22, 1880, from a throat infection and kidney disease, leaving behind one of the most impressive and beloved bodies of work in the whole of English literature.

Daniel Deronda reflects and engages with several key historical currents of the 19th century. One of the most significant is the rise of the Zionist movement, which sought to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Although Zionism would only formally emerge as a political movement with Theodor Herzl’s writings in the 1890s, Eliot was influenced by earlier proto-Zionist thinkers such as Moses Hess, whose 1862 work Rome and Jerusalem advocated for Jewish cultural and political renewal. The novel’s sympathetic portrayal of Jewish identity and culture challenged the pervasive antisemitism of Victorian England, where stereotypes of Jewish people as outsiders or villains were common in literature and society. The novel also addresses broader Victorian debates about nationalism and identity. In the wake of the European revolutions of 1848, there was increased attention to questions of self-determination and cultural belonging, themes that are central to Daniel’s journey of self-discovery. Additionally, Eliot’s depiction of Gwendolen Harleth’s struggles reflects the limited agency afforded to women during this era, as Victorian social norms confined them to roles defined by marriage and domesticity. The legal and societal restrictions on women’s rights were only beginning to be challenged during Eliot's lifetime, with movements for suffrage and reforms like the Married Women's Property Act gaining momentum.

Daniel Deronda stands as a unique contribution to Victorian literature, both in its structure and its themes. The novel’s focus on Jewish culture and identity aligns it with works like Benjamin Disraeli’s Alroy, though Eliot’s portrayal is more nuanced and empathetic. Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe also features Jewish characters, but Scott’s depiction is shaped by the romanticism of his era, lacking the realism that Eliot brought to her work. Within Eliot’s own canon, Middlemarch shares a similar narrative complexity, intertwining individual lives with broader societal currents. Both novels explore moral growth and the interplay between personal ambition and communal responsibility, but Daniel Deronda takes a more global perspective by engaging with the emerging Zionist movement. The novel also engages in dialogue with the broader literary tradition of the Bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story. Works like Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre similarly follow protagonists on journeys of self-discovery, though Eliot’s Daniel undergoes a unique transformation rooted in cultural and religious awakening. Additionally, Gwendolen Harleth’s storyline, with its psychological realism and moral dilemmas, echoes the internal struggles of characters in the novels of Henry James, such as The Portrait of a Lady. By weaving these diverse influences into a single narrative, Eliot created a work that both reflected and transcended its literary context, establishing Daniel Deronda as a precursor to modern explorations of identity and multiculturalism.