his preconceptions of a mother's tender joy in the sight of him" (Eliot 542). This repulsion is shared by the reader who, like the novel's hero, is forced to reconcile Leonora with the "most cherished emotions and principles" society holds in regards to female motherly inclination (Eliot 542).
             Mrs. Meyrick inadvertently defines exactly what is at the heart of society's expectations of motherhood when she tells Mirah "oh, my dear, women are made to like pain and trouble for the sake of their children" (Eliot 556). Society expects women to sacrifice any dreams of their own for the greater good of others, be it their children, fathers, husbands, or communities. Leonora chose a different path. She
             cast all precedent out of her mind. Precedent had no excuse for her, and she could only seek justification in the intensest words she could find for her experience. (Eliot 537)
             Leonora dedicated her life to the pursuit of her own happiness, with no regard for anyone else. Since her personal happiness is paramount to all other things, "her experience" is the only "justification" she needs to needs to validate her giving up of Daniel. She couldn't be "hampered with other lives" (Eliot 536).
             Leonora rejects society's roles because of her father. Placing all value on herself is Leonora's way of rebelling against a culture that, embodied in her father, places no value on women except as mothers. Of her father she says
             He never comprehended me, or if he did, he only thought of fettering me into obedience. I was to be what he called 'the Jewish woman' under pain of his curse. I was to feel everything I did not feel, and believe everything I did not believe. (Eliot 540)
             Caring more about "the grandson to come" than he did about his daughter, Charisi fails to recognize the strength within his daughter (Eliot 544). Thus he ...