When he is rowing his boat along the Thames one evening, he finds a woman named Mirah in great distress and he does not hesitate to soothe her and to save her life: “She stepped forward close to the boat’s side, and Deronda put out his hand, hoping now that she would let him help her in. Time and again Deronda’s strong, graceful hands are extended to help those in need. Not seraphic any longer: thoroughly terrestrial and manly but still of a kind to raise belief in a human dignity which can afford to acknowledge poor relations. And there is something of a uniform pale-brown skin, the perpendicular brow, the calmly penetrating eyes. Look at his hands: they are not small and dimpled, with tapering fingers that seem to have only a deprecating touch: they are long, flexible, firmly-grasping hands, such as Titian has painted in a picture, where he wanted to show the combination of refinement with force. But I will share one of the most extraordinary passages in the novel that captures the strength, dignity and grace of Eliot’s hero: It is difficult to discuss Eliot’s eponymous hero in Daniel Deronda without giving away key aspects of her plot.
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