So I guess this post is really nerdy. But it's about the novel by George Eliot, Daniel Deronda. I've been reading it for one of my classes, and I absolutely adore it. My professor often says that there are two catagories of people who read the novel, those who like Gwendolyn, and those who prefer Daniel. Or at least their respective storylines. Now, I like both of these characters, but I do admit the outcome of the novel was somewhat depressing for me. You see I was hoping that Gwen and Dan would finally get together in the end, as both of them obviously want to do. Yet Daniel chooses Mirah.
Now, I guess I can understand Daniel's choice in some ways. For one he had been searching for purpose all his life and once he found out that he was Jewish he imposed on himself that definate set of beliefs. It was the anchor he had been looking for. It seems to me that Daniel was dead set on marrying Gwendolyn once she left Grandcourt to begin with, but in the end he went for Mirah I think most simply because Mirah would support his whim to go to the East and learn more about his heritage. With Gwendolyn he would have had a very high position in society, and I think the two of them would have been truly happy together, but as one can see in the book, Daniel was always longing for some wreched project to take on as some sort of obsessive motivation. He saved Mirah, he rescued Gwendolyn, and once those two problems were in some way or another solved, he found out he was a Jew. Now he had a project that would no doubt last him his entire lifetime, and probably consume the lives of his Children as well. Was this the best choice for his happiness in life? I don't really think so. But then again, I'm not religious.
Most people tend to abwhore Gwendolyn from the moment they meet her. Yes, she is selfish and silly, but she is also uncommonly strong. To me she is much more appealing than the whining, overly sweet Mirah. Yes, Gwendolyn bears her fear rather ill, but at least she's real about it. Mirah make for such a sweet, wreched little mess that she's sickening. Gwendolyn also is more of an inovator as far as female mindsets went in the Victorian times. Her views of men and marriage are exaggerated, but inspiring. She refuses to be stepped on, until the evil Mr. Grandcourt, and shows spirit that women didn't have then. She's much more like the modern woman that Mirah. And when she did marry Grandcourt I think that was her one and only real mistake, because she chose to be tied down by him instead of becoming a Governess. Yes, she would have been in a lower station in life, but she would have been making her own money and living her own life. To be fair, she thought that the Governess position would tie her down more than marrying Grandcourt would, he is a master of disguise.
At any rate these are just some thoughts of mine on the brilliant novel. In the end I think the important part of the novel was the love between Deronda and Gwen because it was real love. It wasn't like Daniel settling for Mirah because she would be the perfect Jewish wife to take to the East and it wasn't like Gwendolyn marrying someone she didn't love in order to have wealth. They just loved and respected one another and it's sad that they weren't able to be together and truly happy.
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