Daniel Deronda Gender Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

[The miniature] was her own in all the fire of youth, and as Deronda looked at it with admiring sadness, she said, "Had I not a rightful claim to be something more than a mere daughter and mother? The voice and the genius matched the face. Whatever else was wrong, acknowledge that I had a right to be an artist, though my father's will was against it. My nature gave me a charter." (53.49)

Here, Daniel's birth mother tells him about how her gender conflicted with her ambitions. By going for the life she wanted, she defied the rules that society – and her father – laid out for her.