The Role of Music in George Eliot's "Daniel Deronda"

Abstract

Born on St. Cecilia’s day, the patroness of music and musicians, George Eliot regarded music as being fundamental throughout her life. This dissertation analyses the role and the function of music in George Eliot’s "Daniel Deronda". Starting from the description of George Eliot’s relationship with music and her acquaintance with musicians of her time, this dissertation explores her poetics and notion of art and the artist focusing on the character of Klesmer. Furthermore, it analyses the association of music with feeling and sympathy through the characters of Daniel Deronda and Gwendolen Harleth, considering music according to the definition given by Hegel as “the language of the soul”, and discussing the importance that George Eliot gives to the voice in the construction of the characters. This dissertation focuses on the role of musicians in nineteenth-century English society by studying those who act in the field of music in "Daniel Deronda", and examines the relationship between musicianship and Jewishness. Moreover, it investigates the characters of Gwendolen and Mirah, and how music affects the course of their lives and is revelatory of their own essence. The purpose of this dissertation is indeed to analyse music as a unifying theme of the novel and as a means to portray the inner selves of the characters and to improve their self-awareness.