# Daniel Deronda — Character guide

> Key figures in Daniel Deronda by George Eliot.

- [Daniel Deronda](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/daniel_deronda.md): Raised as ward to a baronet and educated like a gentleman, Deronda drifts through a life of privilege without a clear purpose, until an impulse to return a pawned necklace to a stranger sets his course. He is torn betwee
- [Gwendolen Harleth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/gwendolen_harleth.md): Gwendolen arrives in the neighborhood of Leubronn and Diplow as a celebrated beauty, accustomed to admiration and terrified of the poverty that could strip it away. Her gambler's nerve and theatrical self-possession mask
- [Mirah Lapidoth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/mirah_lapidoth.md): Mirah arrives in London destitute and nearly drowned, rescued by Deronda before she can finish the act she had resolved upon. She supports herself with her voice and her needle, guarding a fierce loyalty to the memory of
- [Henleigh Grandcourt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/henleigh_grandcourt.md): Grandcourt is heir to Diplow and a fortune, a man so accustomed to getting his way that he has perfected the art of never appearing to want anything. He keeps a mistress, Lydia Glasher, and her children in waiting, and h
- [Mordecai Cohen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/mordecai_cohen.md): Mordecai, known in his family as Ezra, lives above a working-class household in the East End, his body failing while his mind burns with prophecies of Jewish renewal. He recognizes Deronda almost at once as the vessel fo
- [Sir Hugo Mallinger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/sir_hugo_mallinger.md): Sir Hugo is a bachelor of comfortable means and flexible morals, fond of Deronda with a fatherly affection that never quite explains itself. He steers his ward toward an English gentleman's life, and his discomfort whene
- [Mrs. Meyrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/mrs_meyrick.md): Mrs. Meyrick presides over a compact, affectionate household of four women and a Persian cat, reading Erckmann-Chatrian aloud and keeping her daughters' minds brightly visible. Her quick, articulate sympathy makes her th
- [Klesmer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/klesmer.md): Klesmer arrives at the Meyricks' little parlor like a force of nature, stretching out his long hand to declare Mirah 'a musician' and then warning her, 'We are no skylarks.' His honesty is both gift and gate: he opens pr
- [Mrs. Davilow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/mrs_davilow.md): Mrs. Davilow has known better days and now depends on the kindness of relatives and the hope of her daughters' marriages, worrying over Gwendolen with a love that Gwendolen finds both touching and stifling. Her passivity
- [Hans Meyrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/hans_meyrick.md): Hans Meyrick is the light-haired, Gavarni-sketching son of the Meyrick family, torn between the security of his Cambridge fellowship and his yearning for art. His affectionate teasing and self-deprecating humor mask real
- [Rex Gascoigne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/rex_gascoigne.md): Rex Gascoigne is the rector's son, a decent, unremarkable young man whose life is mapped out in terms of terms at Cambridge and a respectable future, until he falls hopelessly in love with his dazzling cousin Gwendolen. 
- [Lush](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/lush.md): Lush hovers at Grandcourt's elbow as secretary, go-between, and keeper of inconvenient secrets, a man whose easy cynicism and shabby respectability make him useful precisely because he has no illusions. He negotiates the
- [Mrs. Glasher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/mrs_glasher.md): Mrs. Glasher lives in careful obscurity, bound to Grandcourt by children he will not acknowledge and a promise he has no intention of keeping. When Gwendolen becomes his wife, Mrs. Glasher's letters and demands turn the 
- [Lady Mallinger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/lady_mallinger.md): Sir Hugo's sweet-natured but somewhat naive wife.
- [Anna Gascoigne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/anna_gascoigne.md): Gwendolen's gentle and religious younger cousin.
- [Mrs. Gascoigne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/mrs_gascoigne.md): Gwendolen's aunt and the wife of the rector.
- [Mr. Gascoigne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/mr_gascoigne.md): The rector and Gwendolen's uncle, who advises her family.
- [Catherine Arrowpoint](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/catherine_arrowpoint.md): A wealthy heiress who defies her parents to marry Klesmer.
- [Mrs. Arrowpoint](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/mrs_arrowpoint.md): Catherine's snobbish mother who opposes her marriage to Klesmer.
- [Mr. Arrowpoint](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/mr_arrowpoint.md): Catherine's father, a wealthy landowner.
- [Mab Meyrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/mab_meyrick.md): One of Mrs. Meyrick's lively daughters and a friend to Mirah.
- [Kate Meyrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/kate_meyrick.md): Another of Mrs. Meyrick's daughters, known for her sharp wit.
- [Amy Meyrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/amy_meyrick.md): The more serious of Mrs. Meyrick's daughters.
- [Jacob Cohen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/jacob_cohen.md): Mordecai's young nephew, a mischievous but clever boy.
- [The Princess](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/the_princess.md): The Princess Halm-Eberstein built a brilliant career by severing herself from her father, her faith, and the infant son she left behind. Cold, imperious, and exhausted by her own renunciations, she meets Deronda not with
- [Joseph Kalonymos](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/joseph_kalonymos.md): A Jewish banker who helps Deronda learn about his family history.
- [Lord Brackenshaw](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/lord_brackenshaw.md): A genial nobleman and local landowner.
- [Mr. Vandernoodt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/mr_vandernoodt.md): A gossipy acquaintance who spreads news about Grandcourt.
- [Charisi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/charisi.md): Deronda's deceased grandfather, a Jewish scholar whose legacy shapes the plot.
- [Young Mrs. Cohen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/young_mrs_cohen.md): Mordecai's sister-in-law, wife of Ezra Cohen.
- [Rebecca](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/rebecca.md): A Jewish woman mentioned in the context of Mordecai's circle.
- [Miss Merry](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/miss_merry.md): A kind governess who works for the Davilow family.
- [Mrs. Klesmer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/mrs_klesmer.md): Catherine Arrowpoint after her marriage to Klesmer.
- [Madame von Langen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/madame_von_langen.md): A German singer who mentors Mirah briefly.
- [Warham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters/warham.md): A minor character, possibly a servant or local figure.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/daniel_deronda_se/characters