# Zuleika Dobson — Character guide

> Key figures in Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm.

- [Duke of Dorset](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/duke_of_dorset.md): The Duke moves through Oxford as a minor deity of taste and rank, his vacations spent fleeing marriageable women and their chaperons. When the Warden asks him to take Zuleika into dinner, he answers with a bow of ice whi
- [Zuleika Dobson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/zuleika_dobson.md): Granddaughter of the Warden of Judas, Zuleika has achieved fame in the outer world by inducing delightful wonder rather than alleviating pain. At dinner she is hardly more affable than a cameo, answering in Yes and No wh
- [Katie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/katie.md): Katie attends Zuleika through her triumphs, a practical presence amid the incense and emeralds, and her modern opinions make her a quiet counterweight to the antique romance of Oxford. Devoted yet clear-eyed, she registe
- [Noaks](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/noaks.md): Little Noaks is the sort of boy Oxford overlooks — until Zuleika's arrival makes every undergraduate, however humble, a suitor. Earnest where the Duke is impassive, he wears his devotion openly and suffers for it among g
- [Mrs. Batch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/mrs_batch.md): Mrs. Batch presides over the Duke's rooms with the plain good sense of someone who has seen undergraduates come and go. Where the Duke is all pride and porcelain, she is domestic reality — a witness to his moods, his cal
- [Mr. Abimelech V. Oover](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/mr_oover.md): Mr. Abimelech V. Oover comes to Oxford on a scholarship, bringing transatlantic energy and a readiness to say what he feels — qualities the older undergraduates find both refreshing and unnerving. Smitten by Zuleika like
- [Duchess Meg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/duchess_meg.md): As the Duke's aunt, she moves easily through the drawing rooms and dinner tables where his pride is most on display, and she reads him with an accuracy he finds both comforting and inconvenient. Where others see only his
- [Clarence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/clarence.md): Clarence inhabits the Duke's rooms and routines, a figure so unobtrusive that his employer's grandest gestures depend on his quiet competence. His loyalty is total, yet it is tested by a master whose moods swing between 
- [The MacQuern](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/the_macquern.md): The MacQuern moves through undergraduate society with a Scotsman's outsized dignity and a temper primed for slights, real or imagined. His pride puts him on a collision course with the Duke's own imperious manner, and hi
- [Humphrey Greddon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/humphrey_greddon.md): An undergraduate at Judas College, one of Zuleika's many admirers.
- [Mélisande](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/melisande.md): A mysterious and tragic figure from Zuleika's past, mentioned in her story.
- [Nellie O'Mora](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/nellie_omora.md): A beautiful Irish girl who once broke the Duke's heart.
- [Sir John Marraby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/sir_john_marraby.md): An older gentleman who interacts with the Duke and Zuleika.
- [Sir Harry Esson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/young_sir_harry_esson.md): A young baronet and Oxford undergraduate who admires Zuleika.
- [Laura Frith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/laura_frith.md): A young woman mentioned in passing, possibly a former acquaintance.
- [The Warden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/the_warden.md): The head of Judas College, a figure of authority.
- [Mr. Pedby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/mr_pedby.md): A tutor or don at Oxford, mentioned in academic contexts.
- [The Scot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/the_scot.md): A Scottish undergraduate, possibly the MacQuern's friend.
- [Edward Joseph Craddock](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/joseph_craddock.md): An undergraduate at Oxford, briefly mentioned.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters