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Chapter 48
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
Daniel visits Sir Hugo and learns that his mother, whose identity had always been kept from him, now wishes to meet him. Sir Hugo reveals that he had kept Daniel’s parentage secret at her request but assures him that he never intended it to cause harm. The revelation shakes Daniel, who struggles to voice the question that has haunted him—whether his father is still alive. Sir Hugo’s immediate answer, “No,” brings a flood of emotions that Daniel can barely process. Sir Hugo confesses that he may have been wrong to keep Daniel’s origins from him for so long, though he cherished raising him as his own. Daniel reassures him that his deepest pain was never about himself but for the unknown mother who has remained a mystery.
Learning about his mother forces Daniel to confront how much of his life has been shaped by secrecy. His first response is not relief but uncertainty, as if the knowledge disrupts something fundamental rather than completing him. His reaction to his father’s death suggests that even an imagined connection had been important to him. Sir Hugo’s admission of possible wrongdoing introduces a moral ambiguity; his intentions were protective, but they also denied Daniel agency over his own identity. Daniel reassures Sir Hugo, but his thoughts remain with the mother who has dictated his fate from a distance, reinforcing his longing for answers beyond what Sir Hugo can provide.
Themes
