Places: Daniel Deronda

Offendene. Daniel DerondaModest home of Gwendolen Harleth’s mother, Mrs. Fanny Davilow; located in Wessex (name of the early kingdom of the West Saxons that grew into modern England). Gwendolen sees Offendene as boring; the place reinforces her narrow perspective and values, identified as a nervous susceptibility, an overwhelming sense of dread, and illusions about the degree of control she can exert over others, while her own life, in fact, is governed by chance, not choice. At the end of the story, after Gwendolen has learned more about herself, she finds Offendene an attractive place to which to return.

Leubronn. German resort where Deronda first meets Gwendolen at a gaming table. The novel opens in the middle of a scene in which Gwendolen becomes dependent on Deronda as a spiritual mentor when he redeems a necklace she has pawned and admonishes her for gambling. Leubronn is a place of escape for Gwendolen, who is trying to avoid Grandcourt’s proposal of marriage, and establishes her character as that of a gambler. It is also the place where she learns of her family’s lost fortune. (Eliot based the fictional resort on Homburg, Germany, which she visited in 1872.)

*Genoa. Northern Italian seaport in which the lives of both Gwendolen and Daniel reach their crisis points. As explained in the story, the “grand” city and harbor are significant for their history of accepting Jewish refugees. There Daniel meets his mother and learns of his distinguished racial and religious heritage, which will determine his future marriage and vocation. Gwendolen is saved from the inferno of her marriage, but precipitated into her own purgatory. With Deronda’s sympathy, she redirects herself toward a life guided by moral motive.

Quetcham Hall. Estate home of the Arrowpoints, where Gwendolen meets Julius Klesmer, a prominent Jewish German musician, who later destroys her illusions about gaining a living by singing and acting. It is where Catherine Arrowpoint, a dramatic foil for Gwendolen, declares her independence from her parents’ and the landed classes’ expectations about a proper marriage for an heiress. She and Klesmer are the ideal characters in the novel, partly because they are consummate artists.

Hand and Banner. Public tavern that serves as a gathering place for meetings of the Philosophers’ Club. As Mordecai’s guest there, Daniel comes to a better understanding of Mordecai’s vision for a political and religious reuniting of the dispersed Jews.

*Blackfriars Bridge. Bridge across the River Thames in London where Daniel becomes more fully understanding of Mordecai’s belief in the transmutation of souls. The setting is associated with Mordecai’s specific vision of his spiritual heir rising out of a flaming sunset, and, significantly, permits Deronda to come to Mordecai by water.

Brackenshaw Park. Place representing landed power that is the scene of the archery meeting, at which Gwendolen wins a gold arrow. Here she first meets and dances with Henleigh Mallinger Grandcourt, whose “impassive” appearance is contrasted with Klesmer’s “animation.”

*Frankfurt. German city in which Deronda visits a synagogue, his interest stirred by his concern for Mirah, where his likeness to his grandfather is recognized by Joseph Kalonymos, keeper of his grandfather’s collections of papers significant to Jewish history and culture.