“It is a measure of George Eliot's humanitarian optimism that the most repulsive character in her fiction should be as morally impotent in death as he has been malignant in life.”

(Graham Handley, “Introduction,” George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, Oxford UP, 1988, xxii; main text references are to this edition.)

[Gwendolen]: “Why should I waltz if I don't like it, aunt?! It is not in the Catechism.” (Deronda 96)

“… her husband's [Grandcourt's] empire of fear.” (Deronda 364)

“I do not know how long it was before I rose to stem the bleeding and wash my body, rinse my mouth…. There were bruises on my neck. I was not beyond fear; I was at its silent core. I thought, There is no one I can tell of this, there are no words for this, this has no voice. I could not run into the night to Mama, call...

You do not currently have access to this content.