Daniel Deronda · Chapter
XLVII explained
Deronda prepares new clothes for Mordecai, hoping to make him presentable for Mirah and the Meyricks.
What happens
Deronda prepares new clothes for Mordecai, hoping to make him presentable for Mirah and the Meyricks. He arranges for Mrs. Meyrick to bring Mirah to meet her brother. The Meyrick family reacts with mixed feelings, Hans expressing jealousy and resentment. When Mirah finally meets Mordecai, the reunion is deeply emotional and spiritual, with Mirah vowing to care for him and learn to be a good Jewess. Deronda and Mrs. Meyrick leave them alone together.
Themes in this chapter
Jewish Heritage and Nationalism
Mirah's desire to learn to be a good Jewess and Mordecai's prophetic role emphasize the theme of Jewish identity and heritage.
Sympathy and Moral Growth
Deronda's careful arrangements and the emotional reunion demonstrate moral growth through empathy and compassion.
Art and Performance
Hans fears that Mordecai's influence will spoil Mirah as an artist, reflecting tensions between art and religious devotion.
Characters to notice
- Daniel Deronda
Arranges the meeting between Mirah and Mordecai, provides new clothes for Mordecai, and feels anxious about the reunion.
- Mordecai Cohen
Reunites with his sister Mirah after many years; shows nervousness and deep emotion.
- Mirah Lapidoth
Meets her brother Mordecai for the first time since childhood; wears her old cloak to appear poor like him.
- Mrs. Meyrick
Tells the Meyrick family about Mordecai and brings Mirah to meet him; witnesses the reunion with emotion.
- Hans Meyrick
Expresses jealousy and resentment about Mordecai's arrival, fearing it will spoil their home and Mirah's art.
- Kate Meyrick
Criticizes Hans for his childish behavior regarding Mordecai.
- Mab Meyrick
Reacted dramatically to the news of Mordecai, comparing it to ancient Nineveh.
- Amy Meyrick
Chides Hans for his immaturity and suggests they must accept Mordecai.
Key passages
“One might be tempted to envy Deronda providing new clothes for Mordecai, and pleasing himself as if he were sketching a picture in imagining the effect of the fine gray flannel shirts and a dressing-gown very much like a Franciscan’s brown frock, with Mordecai’s head and neck above them.”
Deronda takes pleasure in buying new clothes for Mordecai, imagining how they will look on him.
Deronda's aesthetic and caring nature is highlighted.
“Hans, settled now in his Chelsea rooms, had stayed late, and Mrs. Meyrick, poking the fire into a blaze, said, 'Now, Kate, put out your candle, and all come round the fire cosily. Hans, dear, do leave off laughing at those poems for the ninety-ninth time, and come too. I have something wonderful to tell.'”
Mrs. Meyrick gathers her children around the fire to share the news about Mordecai.
The domestic setting contrasts with the dramatic revelation.
“Mirah threw her arms round her brother’s neck, clasped her little hands behind it, and drew down his face, kissing it with childlike lavishness. Her hat fell backward on the ground and disclosed all her curls.”
Mirah embraces Mordecai passionately, kissing him repeatedly as her hat falls off.
The reunion is intensely emotional and physical.
“I will tell you everything, and you will teach me:—you will teach me to be a good Jewess—what she would have liked me to be.”
Mirah promises to learn from Mordecai how to be a devout Jewish woman, as their mother would have wished.
Mirah embraces her Jewish heritage through her brother.
