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Hyunsook KimThis essay deals with the meaning of Daniel Deronda’s vision in George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda. Daniel’s sympathy, generosity and contribution to Judaism have been criticized as unconvincing and didactic. However, Eliot, who once represented the frustration of idealists in Middlemarch, tries to present the possibility of successful achievement of a noble vision in Daniel Deronda. While emphasizing Daniel’s sympathy as a significant virtue, Eliot warns of the danger of an over-expansive sympathy, which might result in the paralysis of moral force. Eliot shows that Daniel survives the moral paralysis by his inherent yearning for a better life and finally decides to devote himself to Mordecai’s Judaism. Daniel is deeply impressed by Mordecai’s faith because his faith in Judaism is not limited to narrow nationalism but connected to a universal vision for all peoples, including the weak. Eliot argues through Mordecai and his follower Daniel that when all peoples are enabled to express their identities, each of them can contribute to a true and just relationship between nations and, ultimately, to world peace. Finally, by finding out his true identity as a Jew, Daniel realizes his inherent yearning has been identified and leaves for the East to establish a new Jewish nation. Through Daniel’s story, Eliot suggests that an individual’s efforts for a better world can be accomplished when accompanied with true yearning and patient expectations. And, she reveals her deep sympathy with, and brilliant insight into, suffering and persecuted people. This shows that Eliot has a special ability as a sincere novelist attempting to seek a better life for all human beings.
