Literary Devices in Daniel Deronda
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
What's up with all the bling this novel? From Gwendolen's turquoise necklace to Lydia Glasher's diamonds to Daniel's diamond ring, jewelry turns up over and over again in Daniel Deronda. The jewelr...
Setting
George Eliot wrote Daniel Deronda in the mid 1870s, but the novel itself is set a decade earlier in the 1860s. While it might seem like a little bit of a throwback – having a distance of ten whol...
Narrator Point of View
The narrator of Daniel Deronda knows so much about what's going on with the other characters of the novel, not just in terms of their actions but also of their private thoughts, that sometimes it s...
Genre
Daniel Deronda plumbs the depths of the thoughts, motives, and overall psychology of its characters in a thoughtful, philosophical manner, helping to classify this novel as a work of literary ficti...
Tone
Daniel Deronda was George Eliot's last book, and the level of maturity that she reached in her own life sometimes comes right to the surface of her writing. Sure, the characters we spend the bulk o...
Writing Style
OK, so you probably just read the word "lengthy" and were all like, "Obviously, Shmoop, this book is long." You could read a page a day and two years later you still wouldn't be finished. That is l...
What's Up With the Title?
Daniel Deronda. Seems pretty straightforward, right? Well, sure it is. There is a character in the novel named Daniel Deronda. In fact, the novel happens to be about him. Is that it? Hmm…well, no...
What's Up With the Epigraph?
Let thy chief terror be of thine own soul:There, 'mid the throng of hurrying desiresThat trample on the dead to seize their spoil,Lurks vengeance, footless, irresistibleAs exhalations laden with sl...
What's Up With the Ending?
Everything seems to be neatly bundled up at the end of Daniel Deronda. Daniel has found out that he's Jewish and who his parents are – but that's not the end; there are still about a hundred page...
Tough-o-Meter
The plotline of Daniel Deronda itself is not that hard to follow, but getting through this tome can be tricky at times. We mean, first of all, it can be really intimidating to pick up a book that's...
Plot Analysis
Gwendolen gambles away all of her money. She thinks that Daniel Deronda jinxed her luck. When we first meet our two major players, Daniel and Gwendolen, they're at the casino at Leubronn. It's in t...
Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis
Gwendolen's family falls into poverty. Daniel doesn't know who he is or who his family is.At the beginning of their stories, both Gwendolen and Daniel are striving to move up in some way. We might...
Three-Act Plot Analysis
Gwendolen gambles away all of her money, only to then find out that her family is financially ruined. Daniel meets Mirah when he saves her from trying to drown herself.Gwendolen starts to go crazy...
Trivia
George Eliot lived with her lover, George Henry Lewes (who happened to be married and had kids) from 1854 until his death in 1878. She took his name (going by Marian Evans Lewes) even though they...
Steaminess Rating
It's probably not a surprise, but this book is decidedly unsexy. The most scandalous thing we read about is how Lydia Glasher ran off with Grandcourt and bore four children out of wedlock. Of cours...
Allusions
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1.6)John Keats, " Lamia " (1.19)Moliere, Les Préciuses Ridicules (4.Epigraph)Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales: The Clerk's Tale (4.1)William Shakespeare, Macbeth (4....