The Female Imperialist’s Desire for Dominance and an Alternative Empire in George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda

This paper argues that George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda highlights the intricate connection between Gwendolen Harleth’s narrative and Daniel Deronda’s narrative from an imperialistic perspective, focusing specifically on Gwendolen’s hysterical desire for dominance. Gwendolen harbors a deep-seated longing for control over the East, yet her ambitions are thwarted by the societal constraints of the time, which confine women to the role of the ‘angel in the house’. This frustration leads her to experience hysteria. Additionally, Gwendolen feels a profound moral revulsion toward her husband, Henleigh Grandcourt, who symbolizes the violent and oppressive forces of empire. In contrast, she implicitly supports Deronda’s morally upright vision of constructing a Jewish nation, thereby embracing a more benevolent model of imperial governance. Thus, this study concludes that, through the portrayal of Gwendolen as embodying imperialist desires and subtly endorsing the expansion of empire, Eliot reveals her deep entanglement with the imperialist discourse of her time.