CLIFFORD
J.
MARKS
463
Daniel Deronda
constructs situations where unsatisfying orthodoxies
unravel with the infusion of minority materials. By the late nineteenth
century, Great Britain had dramatically changed and reformed its social
structure. In
Daniel Deronda,
one finds promising spiritual perspectives
that would enrich this reform. But Eliot cautions that such reform
involved assertive steps outside of the mainstream. Daniel's self-imposed
exile at the end of the novel, although done for powerful reasons, sug–
gests that England, collectively, cannot exile its internal spiritual confu–
sion. Symbolically, Daniel must prepare himself for failure and rejection.
But his act of embracing a new spirituality and culture reflects Eliot's
desire
to
energize the powerful yet spiritually flustered English nation.
This spirituality can be seen through the depiction of transcendent
moments where Eliot uncovers human beings' connection to something
greater within the quotidian.
If
life has more to offer than just material
prosperity and daily survival, and if
to
be human is
to
ask spiritual ques–
tions, then
to
coexist with each other, learn from each other, and build
on collective spirituality must be the way for society
to
become a greater
place. Sadly,
to
be human is
to
know how moments of transcendent
spirituality will fade;
to
know that some day the body will die. As read–
ers, we should analyze where these moments of spiritual transcendence
take us. In Eliot's representations of life, she allows her readers the
opportunity
to
reflect upon examples of spiritual action. Worldly spiri–
tual behavior becomes possible in
Daniel Deronda.
The novel suggests
that a future can be constructed which links the ethical and the politi–
cal. Such a combination would emphasize the good in the past and the
good that must occur in the future. Moreover, and returning
to
the
Blackwood
article which began this essay, the seeking of personal spir–
itual enlightenment can create a world where science and religion coex–
ist, each shedding light on the other. As anti-materialist as George Eliot
was, her novels never self-righteously attacked religion or science. But
she saw her world accommodating the latest great idea
to
the detriment
of previous great ideas. A functioning political and ethical world is large
enough
to
include spiritual
and
material progress, because the greater
good is emphasized. This greater good would provide guidelines for the
kinds of scientific discoveries that would fit neatly into a paradigm that
goes beyond Comte and Feuerbach
to
allow for exploration of not only
the material, but the transcendent as well. Eliot did not want
to
fuel the
debate between science and religion. In
Daniel Deronda,
she clearly
demonstrates how majority and minority cultures can coexist peace–
fully; furthermore, the novel shows how these cultures can, perhaps,
allow each other
to
flourish.
