C LI FFO RD
J.
MA RKS
449
But o f a ll th e min o rity po pul a ti o ns she could have chosen, why did
Eli o t se lec t J ews? For Eli o t, Juda ism strongly embraced the no ti o n o f
community a nd how th a t community strengthened itself thro ugh vigor–
o us human rela ti o nships. Juda ism represented pa rt o f Briti sh life tha t
was simultaneously both o utside a nd in side, o pera ting a t a certain level
o blivi o us to th e genera l po pul a ti o n, but significa ntl y present to
info rmed individua ls. Eli o t represented a limited Angli ca n Christi anity
as th e domin a nt culture w ith hegemo nic rights and power. Whil e th e
nove l does no t promo te a n antagoni stic rela ti o nship between Jews a nd
Chri sti ans, it does unfo ld ma ny cha racteristics o f each reli gio us cultu re
th a t a ll ow for compe lling contrasts. Eli o t masterfull y sets up the preju–
di ces th a t J ews face , as well as their individua l strengths a nd wea k–
nesses, a nd pl aces Da ni el De ro nd a a t th e center of an ethi ca l dil emma.
Eli o t depicts a compli ca ted Juda ism througho ut th e nove l. H er inti –
macy with Jewi sh knowl edge a nd hi story, her des ire to include va rying
degrees o f J ewi sh thought a nd inte rn a l di spute, a nd her a na lys is o f the
compl ex ity o f Jewi sh spiritu a lity, spea k to thi s compl ex ity. Jew ish di s–
cuss io n o ffe rs competing a nd o ften confusing ideas . At times con–
tenti o us, po litica l, spiritu a l, phil osophica l, o r mystica l, Eli o t o ffers a
mosa ic o f Jud a ism th a t cha ll enges a reader's p reconceived o r prejudiced
no ti o n. In additi o n to spea king w ith J ewi sh fri ends like Ema nuel
Deutsch a nd visiting J ewi sh sy nagogues, Eli o t consulted ma ny Jewish
so urces to write
Daniel Deronda,
as demo nstra ted in J a ne Irwin 's
George Eliot's Daniel Deronda Notebooks.
These included , among o th –
ers, Mi shn a h, Talmud, Midras h, Maimo nides, a nd th e Ka bba la h. No t
a ll o f th ese sources mad e it into th e no ve l, but Eli o t's kn owl edge of th em
info rms the J ewi sh th emes, pa rti cul a rl y in the "H a nd and Bann er"
cha pters. He re, Eli o t desc ribes how po litica l, religio us, and philosophi–
ca l questi o ns ca n be deba ted with o ut the kind o f ra ncor usua ll y associ–
a ted w ith di sagreement. These deba tes inform a la ng uage tha t a ll ows
indi vidu a ls to asse rt th eir beli efs with o ut their co res being threa tened.
Towa rd th e end o f the nove l, sitting among men of va ri o us intell ec–
tua l, spiritu a l, and politica l conviction s, Daniel engages in th ese debates
with th e help of Mo rdecai. Th e Phil osopher 's C lub, as Eli o t notes, gives
thi s group a safe pl ace to di scuss wide-ranging ideas a bo ut progress,
reli gio n, science, etc. Wh en Mo rdeca i ente rs with Da nie l, the di scuss io n,
focusing o n prog ress, soo n turn s to Juda ism. Shifting the conve rsa ti o n
from prog ress to Juda ism implies a re la tionship between the two sub–
jec ts, as M o rdeca i will la ter deta il. r as h and Lill y reject Mordeca i's
no ti o n that "Israel is the hea rt of mankind, " with Lill y repl ying, "as a
race they ha ve no deve lopment in them." Mordeca i res po nds:
