ABSTRACT
An Israeli film released in the summer of 1999, and the official Israeli entry at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, unwittingly sheds light on the enigma of more than a century earlier that is Eliot's Daniel Deronda. George Eliot's ambivalence about the relationship between Zionism and feminism extends to the Judaeo-Christian tradition in general. Society views Deronda as a man who is too emotional and vulnerable, Gwendolen as a woman who is too "frigid" and inexpressive. Deronda's development is traced not only through his discovery of his own genealogy, but also through his shifting perspectives on the Jewish community. The inevitability of Gwendolen's separation from Deronda is suggested from the beginning by her sarcasm about "these Jew pawnbrokers." Given Gwendolen's situation and character, the "choice" of marrying Grandcourt is really no choice at all. She wears black to refuse his offer, as she earlier resembled a statue in black, white, and marble.
