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Explanation and Analysis:
Daniel Deronda tracks the growth of multiple characters as they age, gaining more life experience and discernment. As such, Daniel Deronda is a classic Bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel. Gwendolen is the most prominent embodiment of the genre. She begins the novel as a self-centered young girl, only to blossom into a woman more self-aware. Her gradual development into a more conscious, responsible person is core to the novel's thesis on personal growth and identity.
While Daniel is not a child, nor as immature or youthful as Gwendolen, his story also tracks with the traditional coming-of-age narrative. As a man grown, he continues to be fascinated with his own mysterious origins, and so pursues the truth of his birth as a means of better understanding himself in the present. Daniel looks backward toward his childhood in order to promote his sense of self and identity as an adult. This is not a traditional Bildungsroman narrative; it does, however, suit Eliot's thesis on personal development. Through Daniel, Eliot posits that growth can happen at any age. Successful advancement and development of character largely depends on mindset. With either too much arrogance or too much self-deprecation, growth will never occur—but anyone, regardless of time or prior action, can work hard to positively develop themselves.
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