Zuleika Dobson · Chapter
IV explained
The Duke and Zuleika confront each other in his lodgings.
What happens
The Duke and Zuleika confront each other in his lodgings. Zuleika admits she loved him but now despises his groveling. The Duke confesses his love and his earlier pedantic celibacy. Noaks interrupts, revealing his own crush on Zuleika. The Duke, realizing Zuleika's love was genuine, regrets his past behavior. Zuleika arrives, and after awkward pleasantries, the Duke apologizes for his rudeness at dinner.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Obsession
The Duke's sudden, overwhelming love for Zuleika contrasts with her earlier adoration of him, highlighting the obsessive and transformative nature of romantic passion.
Vanity and Self-Absorption
Both the Duke and Zuleika are consumed by their own feelings—the Duke wallows in self-pity, while Zuleika laments the loss of her idolized image of him.
Social Class and Privilege
The stark contrast between the Duke's aristocratic wealth and Noaks's humble background underscores the class divisions at Oxford.
Characters to notice
- Duke of Dorset
Confesses his love to Zuleika, regrets his earlier pedantic behavior, and apologizes for insulting her.
- Zuleika Dobson
Admits she loved the Duke but now feels he has debased himself like other suitors; she visits his lodgings.
- Noaks
Visits the Duke after a lecture, reveals he is in love with a dark foreign-looking woman (Zuleika), and is dismissed when Zuleika arrives.
Key passages
“I began to be in love with you from the moment I saw you.”
The Duke confesses that his love for Zuleika started at first sight.
The Duke reveals the instant nature of his romantic feelings.
“You were my idol—the one thing in the wide world to me. You were so different from any man I had ever seen except in dreams. You did not make a fool of yourself. I admired you. I respected you. I was all afire with adoration of you. And now, now it is all over. The idol has come sliding down its pedestal to fawn and grovel with all the other infatuates in the dust about my feet.”
Zuleika explains that she once idolized the Duke for his aloofness, but now he has become just another groveling admirer.
Zuleika's disillusionment with the Duke's change in behavior.
“I thought that you revelled in your power over men’s hearts. I had always heard that you lived for admiration.”
The Duke expresses his belief that Zuleika enjoys being admired by many men.
The Duke's perception of Zuleika's character based on her reputation.