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Chapter 23
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Daniel Deronda, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Self-Discovery
Judaism and Zionism
Marriage, Gender, and Control
Familial Duty
Wealth and Social Class
Summary
Analysis
Gwendolen dreads her upcoming meeting with the Gascoignes, which is sure to bring further humiliation. Beforehand, she and Mrs. Davilow visit Sawyer’s Cottage. The cramped, dreary space appalls Gwendolen, who questions how they will endure it. Later, when meeting with the Gascoignes, Gwendolen notices that they are unusually kind, which makes her uncomfortable. Even Anna now sympathizes with Gwendolen. Mr. Gascoigne informs Gwendolen that he has secured a job for her as a governess for a man named Bishop Mompert. Mompert’s wife, Mrs. Mompert, wishes to meet her first. Gwendolen listens in silence as her uncle praises the opportunity.
Visiting Sawyer’s Cottage forces Gwendolen to confront the full weight of her family’s downfall. The cramped space strips away the last traces of her former status, making her future feel suffocatingly real. The meeting with the Gascoignes only deepens her discomfort. Their unexpected kindness, meant as sympathy, only magnifies her humiliation. Even Anna, who once looked up to her, now pities her. Mr. Gascoigne’s announcement of a governess position feels like the final blow. He presents it as an opportunity, but to Gwendolen, it represents the ultimate loss.
Themes
In the days that follow, Gwendolen’s despair deepens. She withdraws, avoiding visits to the Rectory (where Sawyer’s Cottage sits) and refusing to feign enthusiasm for the cottage’s furnishings. Even Anna’s visits are too much to bear. She had promised herself to maintain calm defiance, but now she feels only numb, resentful exhaustion. Mrs. Davilow watches her helplessly, torn between concern and the urge to shield her from further suffering.
Gwendolen retreats further into isolation as despair replaces her earlier defiance. She avoids the Rectory, refusing to pretend that Sawyer’s Cottage is a suitable home. Even Anna’s presence feels unbearable, as it reminds her of how much she has lost. Her pride, which once kept her from showing vulnerability, now gives way to exhaustion. She no longer fights against reality but allows it to drain her.
Themes
One day, Gwendolen abruptly takes out her jewelry and tells Mrs. Davilow to sell it. Mrs. Davilow hesitates, unwilling to part with the keepsakes, but Gwendolen insists. She keeps only one piece: the turquoise necklace. Wrapping it in a torn handkerchief, she sets it aside with a strange resolve. She does not fully understand why, only that she cannot part with it. A vague superstition, something beyond reason, compels her to hold onto it.
Gwendolen’s decision to sell her jewelry marks a shift. Gwendolen, who once adorned herself with confidence, now discards those symbols of vanity. Yet she keeps the turquoise necklace, unable to explain why. Her attachment to it is not sentimental but instinctive, a superstition she cannot name. The torn handkerchief she wraps it in suggests a break from her past, but her refusal to part with it hints at an unresolved hope—something she cannot define yet is unwilling to abandon entirely.
Themes
