# Noaks — Zuleika Dobson character guide

> Noaks in Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Little Noaks, Mr. Noaks

**First appearance:** 0005-iii

## Snapshot

A small, earnest undergraduate of Judas College whose adoration of Zuleika is as sincere as it is hopeless, and who cannot help saying so.

## Who they are

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 grander rivals. His unglamorous longing keeps the novel's fever honest: the spell falls on the small and the splendid alike, and Noaks shows what it costs the ones with least armor.

## Relationships

### [Zuleika Dobson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/zuleika_dobson)

_romantic_

Noaks, a poor and awkward student, is hopelessly in love with Zuleika, who barely notices him.

### [Duke of Dorset](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/duke_of_dorset)

_social_

The Duke regards Noaks with a mixture of pity and contempt, seeing him as a pathetic rival.

### [Katie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/katie)

_friendship_

Katie and Noaks share a bond of mutual sympathy as outsiders, both nursing unrequited feelings for the Duke and Zuleika respectively.

### [Duke of Dorset](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/duke_of_dorset)

_social_

The Duke regards Noaks with a mixture of pity and contempt, seeing him as a pathetic rival.

### [Katie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/katie)

_friendship_

Katie and Noaks share a bond of mutual sympathy as outsiders, both nursing unrequited feelings for the Duke and Zuleika respectively.

### [Zuleika Dobson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/zuleika_dobson)

_romantic_

Noaks, a poor and awkward student, is hopelessly in love with Zuleika, who barely notices him.

### [Zuleika Dobson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/zuleika_dobson)

_romantic_

Noaks, a poor and awkward student, is hopelessly in love with Zuleika, who barely notices him.

### [Katie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/katie)

_friendship_

Katie and Noaks share a bond of mutual sympathy as outsiders, both nursing unrequited feelings for the Duke and Zuleika respectively.

### [Duke of Dorset](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/duke_of_dorset)

_social_

The Duke regards Noaks with a mixture of pity and contempt, seeing him as a pathetic rival.

## In the story

### [Zuleika Dobson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/chapters/zuleika-dobson)

A humble and less privileged undergraduate who also becomes infatuated with Zuleika.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/chapters/i)

A short, squinting, poorly dressed undergraduate of Judas College who salutes the Warden and gazes after Zuleika's landau.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/chapters/iv)

Visits the Duke after a lecture, reveals he is in love with a dark foreign-looking woman (Zuleika), and is dismissed when Zuleika arrives.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/chapters/vii)

Mentioned as part of the crowd returning from the race.

### [The Concert and the Aftermath](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/chapters/x)

Squats in the front row, peering at Zuleika through spectacles, among the crowd she captivates.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/chapters/xiii)

Seen in his room with a shrine to Zuleika, weeping and repeating 'I am so young to die.'

### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/chapters/xviii)

Mentioned as a fellow tenant of Mrs. Batch, but not present in the chapter.

### [XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/chapters/xx)

Reported dead by suicide, leaving a note that reads 'What is Life without Love?'

### [Chapter XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/chapters/xxii)

Hides instead of dying, is exposed, climbs out a window and falls to his death; later found alive by Katie and becomes engaged to her.

### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/chapters/xxiii)

Attempts to prove his love by a shocking act, causing Zuleika to flee in horror.

### [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/chapters/xxiv)

Recalled in Zuleika's memory as part of the events that led to her humiliation.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters/noaks
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuleika_dobson_se/characters