Daniel Deronda

George Eliot’s final novel, Daniel Deronda (1876), intertwines two parallel narratives set in Victorian England. The beautiful but selfish Gwendolen Harleth impulsively marries the cruel aristocrat Grandcourt, plunging into guilt and moral crisis after his death, seeking redemption through the principled Daniel Deronda. Deronda, raised uncertain of his parentage by a wealthy guardian, rescues the despairing Jewish singer Mirah Lapidoth from suicide, drawing him into London’s Jewish community and early Zionist ideals under the tutelage of the scholar Mordecai. As Deronda uncovers his own Jewish heritage from his estranged mother, a former actress, he embraces his identity, falls in love with Mirah, and commits to a spiritual mission for Jewish restoration, contrasting Gwendolen’s personal turmoil with broader themes of heritage, empathy, and self-discovery.