A study of characterisation in the novels of George Eliot

238.
to the time when he finds his identity in the facts of his birth, he bas
been indecisive and not much of a chooser. Now that he knows who he is
and can embrace his duty we can see that his opportunity for choice is
slight indeed.
We have seen that George Eliot saw an opposition existing between
freedom and duty. We can recognise that, for her, a voluntary submission
to duty, toa worthwhile cause, i~ preferable to ~es~nJi[!~'., 'Wbi1~ .we
may agree with that, it is undeniable that she does not allow Deronda a
wider range of possibilities. He faces an either/or situation: aimlessness
or duty; moral insufficiency or moral worth. These constitute the two
extremes of a moral axis and all intermediate and moderate positions are
ignored. Given such a choice, it is inevitable that Deronda does not
hesitate. Duty, as we have alreaqy seen, in George Eliot's scheme has
been elevated into an absolute.
In terms of the novel, however, in the ordering of characterisation
and plot, this moral absolute inevitably creates an inflexible set of
co-ordinates. The loss of freedom, in consequence, is considerable. George
Eliot has converted the principles of, evolutionary psychology into a
moral straitjacket. She conceals this fact from her readers by the
narrowness of choice that is offered to Deronda, by her preparation of
the reader and Deronda himself for the ultimate commitment to a nationalistic
goal, and by her presentation of Deronda as choosing willingly.
It still remains that Deronda surrenders himself and his own will, however
voluntarily. In this novel George Eliot has constrained Deronda to
act in accordance with a rigid moral goal, and has oonverted the prinoip1es
of evolutionary psychology for the purpose of her identification
of Deronda's ancestral heritage with his duty.