Idealism In Daniel Deronda

George Eliot, a Victorian female writer, is noted for her literary achievement in realism. Many of her earlier novels are representative realist works, such as Scenes of Clerical Life (1858), Adam Bede (1859) and her masterpiece Middlemarch (1874). On the contrary, the idealistic aspect of her art fails to get due appreciation from critics and readers. In spite of that, idealism, which reveals itself in some of her works such as "The Lifted Veil" (1859) and Romola (1862-3), is an indispensable part of her art. In her last novel Daniel Deronda (1876) Eliot's idealism is fully displayed.This thesis aims at studying Eliot's idealistic art by analyzing the characterization of two Jewish characters and the treatment of Jewish subject in Daniel Deronda. There are four chapters.Chapter One is an introduction to Eliot and a review of criticism on Daniel Deronda. Chapter Two is a brief review of her idealistic tendency as well as an analysis of the concept "idealism" in relevant dictionaries. In aesthetics and literature, idealism refers to the doctrine and practice emphasizing and embodying imaginative treatment of life and nature. Chapter Three is a detailed analysis of the two idealized characters Deronda and Mordecai. Deronda can be likened to the biblical figure Jesus Christ, who is perfect and a role model of humanity, while Mordecai is portrayed as John the Baptist in the Bible, whose mystical experiences and visions make the novel extremely idealistic.Chapter Four is a conclusion. Through idealistic art in Daniel Deronda, Eliot expresses her humanistic concern for human history.