Daniel Deronda · Chapter
Chapter XXVI explained
Gwendolen receives a note from Grandcourt requesting permission to call, and after an internal struggle, she agrees to see him, driven by a desire to retain control and a new wish to improve her mother's situation.
What happens
Gwendolen receives a note from Grandcourt requesting permission to call, and after an internal struggle, she agrees to see him, driven by a desire to retain control and a new wish to improve her mother's situation.
Themes in this chapter
Marriage and Gender Roles
Gwendolen's dilemma highlights the limited agency of women, who must choose between marriage for security or facing poverty.
Social Class and Privilege
Gwendolen's fall from wealth and the prospect of a life with the Miss Momperts underscores the precariousness of social standing.
Power and Control
Gwendolen's internal conflict revolves around the desire to retain power over her own life, even as she considers accepting Grandcourt's suit.
Characters to notice
- Gwendolen Harleth
Struggles with the decision to let Grandcourt call, torn between pride, fear, and a new tenderness for her mother.
- Mrs. Davilow
Anxiously supports Gwendolen, hoping Grandcourt's interest might improve their fortunes, but defers to her daughter's wishes.
- Henleigh Grandcourt
Sends a formal note requesting to call on Gwendolen, having followed her to Leubronn.
Key passages
“Why should she not let him come? It bound her to nothing. He had been to Leubronn after her: of course he meant a direct unmistakable renewal of the suit which before had been only implied. What then? She could reject him.”
Gwendolen rationalizes that allowing Grandcourt to visit does not commit her to anything; she can still refuse him.
Gwendolen's self-deception about retaining control while inviting a proposal.
“To be a queen dethroned is not so hard as some other down-stepping: imagine one who had been made to believe in his own divinity finding all homage withdrawn, and himself unable to perform a miracle that would recall the homage and restore his own confidence.”
Being stripped of privilege is less painful than realizing one's own inadequacy and powerlessness.
Narrator's reflection on Gwendolen's shattered self-image after Klesmer's critique.
“I wish I had never known it!”
Gwendolen wishes she had never learned of Grandcourt's secret past with Mrs. Glasher.
Gwendolen's regret over the knowledge that complicates her decision about Grandcourt.