Daniel Deronda

novel by Eliot

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Article History

Daniel Deronda, novel by George Eliot, published in eight parts in 1876. It is notable for its exposure of Victorian anti-Semitism. The novel builds on the contrast between Mirah Cohen, a poor Jewish girl, and the upper-class Gwendolen Harleth, who marries for money and regrets it. The less convincingly realized hero, Daniel, after discovering that he is Jewish, marries Mirah and departs for Palestine to help establish a Jewish homeland. The warm picture of the Cohen family evoked grateful praise from Jewish readers, but the best part of Daniel Deronda is the keen analysis of Gwendolen’s character, which seems to many critics the peak of George Eliot’s achievement.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.