The Period Drama Club discussion

What do you think of George Eliot's Daniel Deronda? Did you like the movie adaptation? What do you think of Daniel's choices throughout the story? How do you feel about people's views on Jews at the time versus Daniel's decision to convert to Judaism? Discuss your thoughts below!

I only saw the mini-series from 2002 starring Hugh Dancy and Romola Garai. This one went on too long and had too much drama. sydneypatrick's review on IMDB says nearly exactly what I thought. Noirdame79's post also sums up a lot of my feelings.

Didn't like the ending because um (view spoiler)[Your husband is a nasty dude so you let him die. OK I get it. I probably would have done the same thing. I actually sort of hoped Gwendolyn and Daniel would get together at the end. I felt like she deserved happiness after all that even though I didn't like her. Daniel and Mirah don't make any sense as a couple because she's so weak and boring and hardly in this production at all. (hide spoiler)]

I hated Gwendolyn for the most part though I love Romola Garai and she was fabulous as always. Oh and hey her clothes were amazing - simply gorgeous! Mirah kind of annoyed me too for different reasons. I guess the suicide attempt turned me off. Um didn't like Daniel much either but understood his quest to find himself and his heritage.

The antisemitism of the time was a real eye opener. I had no idea about any of that and I found it somewhat interesting in theory but the presentation didn't completely capture my attention. It's completely horrible the way Jews were discriminated against. This topic also comes up in The Way We Live Now. That one is a must-see. It stars David "Hercule Poirot" Suchet, Matthew "Mr. Darcy" Macfadyen, Shirley "Moaning Myrtle" Henderson, among others. The costumes aren't as nice as the ones in Daniel Deronda.

I did actually really like and feel for (view spoiler)[Henleigh's mistress. She expected Henleigh to take care of their children and didn't see the supreme nasty side of him. Of course by law her son doesn't inherit anything! She's the only character I really feel anything for. I feel bad she wasted her life on this creep and he didn't do anything but ruin her. (hide spoiler)]

Hugh Bonneville as the bad guy?!! What?!! I had such a hard time getting used to Lord Grantham at first because he was so memorable in this production! Now I think I would have the opposite problem.

I couldn't get over Hugh Bonneville either! He looks so very silly with side burns, and just his pure evilness gave me the creeps!

Abby wrote: "I couldn't get over Hugh Bonneville either! He looks so very silly with side burns, and just his pure evilness gave me the creeps!"

Definitely BUT it shows he's such a great actor when they give him good material to work with. He was so good at being bad, he was convincing enough to stick with us.

Honestly I can't get into George Eliot's books, which saddens me because she's considered the greatest English author in history. I saw the miniseries first, and was horribly disappointed when (view spoiler)[ Daniel and Gwendolyn didn't end up together. Daniel and Mirah? Seriously? (hide spoiler)] I did love the costumes, they were gorgeous! And I always like Romola Garai and Hugh Dancy. But apparently I'm in the minority over Hugh Bonneville - I can't think of anything I've seen him in that I liked him.

I still liked the exploration of the social issues. The antisemitism didn't surprise me, but it is unusual to see it highlighted so frankly in literature before the early-twentieth century - to my knowledge. I gave the novel a try, but wasn't enthusiastic about it. I thought it might be that I already didn't care for the story, so I tried Middlemarch, but didn't care for it or its miniseries either.

Marie wrote: "Honestly I can't get into George Eliot's books, which saddens me because she's considered the greatest English author in history. I saw the miniseries first, and was horribly disappointed when [spo..."

I vaguely recall watching this miniseries version of Daniel Deronda and I wasn't very impressed with the film at all. One of the only things I can remember from this series is the fact that Jodhi May who played the beautiful sister Alice in the film The Last of the Mohicans also played the part of Mirah, and I could hardly recognize her. I found her accent (what was that accent anyway?) hilarious I'm afraid.

(view spoiler)[Yeah, the fact that Daniel ended up marrying this terrible drab and boring gal was very disappointing to me too. (hide spoiler)]

I couldn't get into her books either Marie, so you're not alone in feeling this way.