Zuleika Dobson · Chapter
II explained
This chapter delves into Zuleika Dobson's inner life, contrasting her with the shepherdess Marcella from Cervantes.
What happens
This chapter delves into Zuleika Dobson's inner life, contrasting her with the shepherdess Marcella from Cervantes. Unlike Marcella, who boasted she could never love, Zuleika is of passionate fibre and yearns to love a youth she can respect—one who does not fall prostrate before her. The narrative traces her triumphant career from a remote music-hall to international fame in Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Madrid, and America, where she revels in press adulation and public homage. Yet, as she sits in her Oxford window, she looks forward to the week ahead, wondering if the young equestrian who ignored her—whom she is to meet at dinner—might be the one she could adore.
Themes in this chapter
Vanity and Self-Absorption
Zuleika delights in the homage she receives, reads every line printed about her, and revels in her own image as a spectator of her life.
Love and Obsession
Zuleika yearns to love a youth she can respect, yet all youths fall prone before her; the chapter explores her desire for a reciprocal, non-submissive love.
Artifice and Performance
Zuleika's life is a performance—her conjuring tricks, the press's symbolic drawings, and her carefully curated public persona all underscore the theme.
Characters to notice
- Zuleika Dobson
Reflects on her passionate nature and desire to love a youth who does not bow to her; recalls her global triumphs and looks forward to Oxford.
- Duke of Dorset
Mentioned as the young equestrian who did not turn to look at Zuleika; she wonders if he is the one she could love.
- Grand Duke Salamander
Fell enamoured of Zuleika in St. Petersburg, gave her golden replicas of her conjuring tools and offered half his estates.
- Prince Vierfüenfsechs-Siebenachtneun
Offered Zuleika his hand in Berlin and was imprisoned by the Kaiser for six months.
- Alvarez
Matador who died in the arena with Zuleika's name on his lips during a bullfight held in her honour in Madrid.
Key passages
“She could love none but a youth. Nor—though she herself, womanly, would utterly abase herself before her ideal—could she love one who fell prone before her.”
Zuleika can only love a young man, but she cannot love someone who worships her; she would humble herself before her ideal, but not before a slave.
Highlights Zuleika's romantic dilemma and the paradox of her power over men.
“She was an empress, and all youths were her slaves. Their bondage delighted her, as I have said. But no empress who has any pride can adore one of her slaves.”
Zuleika rules over young men like an empress over slaves, but her pride prevents her from loving any of them.
Illustrates the central conflict between her enjoyment of homage and her desire for genuine love.
“She was always looking forward. She was looking forward now—that shade of ennui had passed from her face—to the week she was to spend in Oxford.”
Zuleika never dwells on the past; she eagerly anticipates her week in Oxford, a city of youths.
Shows Zuleika's forward-looking temperament and her excitement for new conquests.