Daniel Deronda Characters

Daniel is the protagonist of the novel (if you couldn't tell from the fact that his name is, uh, the title). When we first get to know Daniel, he's a brooding twenty-something at the casino, starin...

Is she beautiful, or isn't she? This question starts off our first encounter with Gwendolen. It sets her up as a sort of walking contradiction – is she one thing, or is she its complete opposite?...

Talk about making an entrance – we first meet Mirah when Daniel notices her trying to drown herself on the riverbank. From the moment we meet her, we realize that Mirah is a deeply unhappy young...

Mordecai is one of those characters that truly stands out – he's totally memorable, both to us and to the other characters that meet him. Mordecai was born as Ezra Mordecai Cohen, and he is Mirah...

It's OK if you hate Grandcourt. We don't like him at all, either – that just goes to show how well George Eliot created this villain. Everything about him is mean, and he just oozes with sleaze....

Clintock runs in the same social circle as Gwendolen and is always talking to her at parties.

Ezra Cohen is a shopkeeper in London whom Daniel originally mistakes for being Mirah's brother. He has let Mordecai live with him and his family for the last two years.

Mrs. Cohen the elder is Ezra Cohen's mom. Daniel mistakes her for Mirah's long-lost mother because she acts a little sketchy when Daniel asks her if she has a daughter.

Addy is Ezra Cohen's wife. She's a pretty nice lady from what we can tell. We don't get to know her very well.

Ezra Cohen's son. He's always trying to trade stuff with people. Mordecai is trying to mold him into a mini version of himself.

Ezra Cohen's daughter. She's cute and kisses Daniel on the face.

Also known as Baby Cohen – we don't hear a peep out of this little munchkin.

Fanny is Gwendolen's mom. She has been married twice – first to Gwendolen's dad, a Mr. Harleth, who died when Gwendolen was a kid, and then to a Mr. Davilow, with whom she had four other daughter...

These girls are Gwendolen's four younger half-sisters. Alice is the oldest at sixteen, Bertha and Fanny are in the middle, and Isabel is the youngest at nine.

Mr. Gascoigne is also frequently referred to as "The Rector." He is Gwendolen's uncle through marriage. He has two kids, Rex and Anna. What's interesting about Mr. Gascoigne is the way he seems to...

Mrs. Gascoigne is Mrs. Davilow's sister, Gwendolen's aunt, and Rex and Anna's mother. She can be sweet, but she can also be tough – she's convinced that her sister and her husband are both too e...

Rex is Gwendolen's cousin and the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gascoigne. He falls for Gwendolen pretty hard and totally flips out when she rejects him. When this happens, he decides that he wants to move t...

Anna is Rex's younger sister. She is sweet and demure – definitely not the same kind of girl as Gwendolen is. Her family means everything to her, and she is especially devoted to her brother Rex....

Warham is Rex and Anna's brother who is away in India.

Lydia Glasher is Grandcourt's former lover. She left her husband for Grandcourt and has four children with him, including a son who will take Grandcourt's name and who stands to inherit all of Gran...

Joseph Kalonymos is the old man whom Daniel meets in the synagogue in Frankfort and who asks Daniel about his family background. We find out that he was a buddy of Daniel's grandfather's.

Mr. Lapidoth is Mirah's dad. He stole Mirah away from her mom and brother when she was six years old. He is sleazy and money-grubbing.

Lush is Grandcourt's right-hand man and frequent companion. He has been in Grandcourt's service for the last fifteen years. Lush is also Grandcourt's punching bag in a lot of ways. Grandcourt treat...

Sir Hugo is Daniel's guardian. Daniel spends the bulk of his young life convinced that Sir Hugo is secretly his dad – and actually, everyone else thinks so, too. He is a kind, understanding man w...

Lady Mallinger is Sir Hugo's wife. They get married when Daniel is away at school. She and her daughters all love Daniel. Lady Mallinger is always beating herself up about not having had a son, bec...

Miss Merry is the governess to the four Davilow girls.

Hans is Daniel's friend from Cambridge. He's an artist. His family takes Mirah in when Daniel finds her, and Hans falls for her almost immediately after meeting her.

Mrs. Meyrick, a widow, is Hans's mother. She takes Mirah into her home after Daniel finds her on the riverbank. Mrs. Meyrick is a doting mother and a caring friend. We can't help but point out, tho...

Kate, Amy, and Mab are Hans Meyrick's sisters.

Mr. Middleton visits Offendene not long after Gwendolen and her family move there. He's sort of boring. He apparently has a thing for Gwendolen, but she doesn't notice.

We never meet Bishop Mompert. He offers Gwendolen a job as his daughters' governess after Gwendolen's family falls in financial ruin.

Mrs. Mompert is Bishop Mompert's wife. She is supposed to interview Gwendolen for a position as her daughters' governess, but it never actually happens.

Signora is the Italian woman who lived with Mirah and her dad in America. She thought that Mirah would never make it as a performer.

Mr. Vandernoodt tends to be at all of the parties we go to in this book. He's the one who tells Daniel all the juicy details about Grandcourt's past with Lydia Glasher. He really seems to enjoy gos...

Gwendolen goes to Leubronn with her at the beginning of the novel.