Big Books of 2026
Daniel Deronda

Questions About Daniel Deronda

by George Eliot

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Answered Questions (3)

I have read a couple of articles that said Gwendolen had been sexually abused as a child by her step-father. What do you think?
Paul Driskill Consider checking out (if you haven't already) Louise Penner's "'Unmapped Country'": Uncovering Hidden Wounds in Daniel Deronda." I think there is a v…moreConsider checking out (if you haven't already) Louise Penner's "'Unmapped Country'": Uncovering Hidden Wounds in Daniel Deronda." I think there is a valid argument to be made that there was some sort of abuse (physical or mental). The novel subtly creates a backstory for Gwendolen through a few marked clues (the hidden panels shocking her into fits of terror, the unconscious embodied). However, most of Gwendolen's backstory is told through present absences--as Deronda discovers his father, his heritage, his genaelogy, as readers we feel the absence of Gwendolen's father.

In terms of passages, consider the one in which the narrator says this: "Gwendolen, immediately thinking of the unlovable step-father whom she had been acquainted with the greater part of her life while her frocks were short" (Chapter III). (less)
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Can anyone tell me what this means from Daniel Deronda please - about Gwendolen in Chapter 45? “She would have been obliged to allow, if any one had said it to her, that what she submitted to could not take the shape of duty, but was submission to a yoke drawn on her by an action she was ashamed of, and worn with a strength of selfish motives that left no weight for duty to carry.”
Paul Of Gwendolen submits to a yoke totally of her own making (the guilt and shame of knowingly marrying Grandcourt for his money and in spite of the fact tha…moreGwendolen submits to a yoke totally of her own making (the guilt and shame of knowingly marrying Grandcourt for his money and in spite of the fact that she also knew he already had a "wife" and kids). Gwendolen's selfish motives are her pride and sense of justice for having broken her promise to Mrs Glasher not to marry Grandcourt. (less)
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What would This book on its own not any adaptions be rated as a movie?
Lana Brown Long. Would make a wonderful miniseries, but I think it would take like 15 hours at least to tell properly.
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