Zeluco is a 1789 novel by Scottish author John Moore that centers on the vicious deeds of the eponymous anti-hero, the evil Italian nobleman Zeluco. The novel's full title is Zeluco: Various Views of Human Nature, Taken from Life and Manners, Foreign and Domestic. A combination of proto-Gothic villainy and Enlightenment rationality, Zeluco contains both main plot incidents and lengthy sections of social commentary.
Plot summary
Early intrigues The first quarter of the novel details Zeluco's numerous initial wrongdoings in rapid succession. The novel opens with an incident that, according to the narrator, illustrates Zeluco's violent temper and uncontrollable impulses. Irritated by his pet sparrow, the young Zeluco crushes it to death in his hand and ignores the remonstrances of his horrified tutor. Grown into a handsome, selfish, and cruel young man, Zeluco seduces and impregnates the niece of an important noblewoman. He then deserts the niece and spends two decadent years in Italy, draining his mother's resources. Once his mother has given him the last of her money, Zeluco drops his pretence of affection, and she dies of disappointment at his anger and spite. Unconcerned about his mother's death, Zeluco attempts to marry Rosolia, a young woman with a vast potential inheritance. Rosolia's mother, convinced that Zeluco is only after her daughter's money, pretends to be pregnant. Certain that Rosolia's inheritance will be greatly reduced, Zeluco abandons her, travels to Spain, enlists as an officer in the military, and follows his regiment to Cuba. Zeluco mistreats his men in an attempt to gain a promotion, but after being chastised by his superior officer, he turns his attention to a wealthy widow. Though he offers the widow tender affections until she agrees to marry him, he treats her with cold indifference once she signs over her money and property to him, and she dies of grief. Newly interested in the wife of his rich Portuguese neighbor, Zeluco courts the wife secretly until she refuses to meet him for fear of discovery and confesses her flirtations to her husband. The Portuguese disguises himself and stabs Zeluco. After a difficult recuperation, Zeluco attempts to avenge himself upon the Portuguese by making the man think Zeluco to be the father of his newborn son. After this plot fails, Zeluco leaves Cuba for Naples.
Pursuing Laura The remaining three-quarters of the novel is devoted to Zeluco's interactions with a particular circle of aristocrats in Italian high society. Once established in Naples, Zeluco becomes interested in Laura Seidlits, the beautiful daughter of the widow Madame de Seidlits. Determined to meet Laura, he attempts to ingratiate himself with the nobleman Signora Sporza, Madame de Seidlits' first cousin. Though she pretends to oblige him, Signora Sporza distrusts Zeluco and senses his cruel character. Laura also instinctively dislikes Zeluco and refuses his proposal of marriage. Infuriated by Laura's disdain, Zeluco stages a false attempt of robbery, rape, and murder by having his valet attack Laura and Signora Sporza's carriage. Despite Zeluco's apparently heroic false rescue, Laura remains unmoved and unwavering in her decision not to marry Zeluco. Madame de Seidlits' bank fails, however, and after learning of her mother's financial distress and being pressured by Father Pedro, Laura agrees to marry Zeluco to preserve her mother's happiness and wellbeing.
After the marriage As in the case of the rich widow, Zeluco treats Laura cruelly as soon as he achieves his goal and sates his appetites. Laura bears his ill treatment meekly, hides her misery, and presents a positive image of her married life. Signora Sporza, as well as Laura's newly arrived half-brother Captain Seidlits and his friend Baron Carlostein, suspects the true state of affairs. Laura and Baron Carlostein begin to fall in love with one another, but Laura cuts the relationship short because she is unwilling to violate her marriage vows. Oblivious to Laura's love for Carlostein, Zeluco erroneously believes Laura to be in love with a nameless Italian nobleman. Bored with Laura, Zeluco begins an affair with Nerina, a deceitful woman who pretends to be in love with men for financial gain. Nerina manipulates Zeluco through pretended fits of jealously and eventually convinces him that his and Laura's newborn son is really the bastard child of Captain Seidlits. Giving in to his natural jealousy and furious impulses, Zeluco snatches his son from Laura's lap and strangles the child. Laura immediately faints and remains out of her senses for a number of weeks. When Laura partially regains her senses, she sees a painting of the Massacre of the Innocents, screams, and falls into a feverish frenzy. When Baron Carlostein, Captain Seidlits, and Signora Sporza examine the picture, they realize that one of the soldiers strangling a child bears a strong resemblance to Zelcuo. Laura recovers from her fever with her senses intact and writes to Zeluco asking for a separation and promising she will tell no one about the murder. Captain Seidlits, however, labels the soldier in the picture with Zeluco's name. Baron Carlostein provokes Zeluco into a duel to spare Captain Seidlits. The night before the duel is to take place, Zeluco goes to Nerina's house unannounced and catches her with another lover, who stabs him in the stomach. On his deathbed, Zeluco repents of his amoral conduct and apologizes to Captain Seidlits. After arranging her affairs and giving monetary gifts to Zeluco's relations, Laura agrees to marry Baron Carlostein and moves to Berlin with her family.Moore, 2008
List of characters
The novel includes a plethora of characters and subplots. Many remain unnamed, deemphasizing their identities and highlighting Zeluco's indiscriminating evildoing,Spacks 1990, p. 192 but others command large sections of the text. The “sheer number of secondary characters and the range of subplots mean that Zeluco himself frequently disappears for large sections of the book and that interest in the central plot is diffused by an increasing focus on comic secondary characters.”Perkins 2008, p.xxix
Zeluco: The novel's title character, a brutal, vain, selfish Sicilian nobleman interested only in gaining riches and fulfilling his own desires.
Zeluco's early intrigues Zeluco's father: The only person who successfully disciplines Zeluco. His death gives Zeluco's self-indulgent nature a free rein.
Zeluco's mother: Enamored of her son, she gives in to his every desire until she is no longer of use to him and dies of a broken heart.
Countess Brunella: A noblewoman who delights in railing against young women who are unchaste.
Countess Brunella's niece: The first young woman who Zeluco pursues. He has a love affair with her until she becomes pregnant, then abandons her.
Rosolia: The young heiress who Zeluco attempts to marry. She is prevented from doing so only by her mother's ingenuity.
The widow: Zeluco's first wife. After obtaining all her lands and money, he treats her cruelly and she dies of a broken heart.
Hanno: One of the widow's favorite slaves. Zeluco beats him so severely that he dies. His ill usage and Zeluco's violent treatment of his other slaves prompts the Physician's antislavery debate with Zeluco.
The Cuban Physician: The doctor who attends both Zeluco and the Portuguese. Providing a voice of reason, he asks Zeluco to treat his slaves more kindly and convinces the Portuguese of his wife's innocence.
The Portuguese: Zeluco's neighbor. He disguises himself in his wife's clothing and stabs Zeluco in the chest after learning that Zeluco was pursuing his wife.
The Portuguese's wife: Zeluco's would-be paramour, unjustly accused of bearing his bastard child.
The Seidlits circle Signora Sporza: Madame de Seidlits' first cousin. A perceptive society woman, she dearly loves Laura and her mother, but her unwillingness to become involved in the affairs of others keeps her from preventing Laura and Zeluco's marriage.
Madame de Seidlits: Laura's mother and Colonel Seidlits' wife. A devoted wife and mother, her one failing is her expensive tastes. Her inability to live within her income level contributes to Laura's willingness to marry Zeluco.
Colonel Seidlits: Madame de Seidlits' late husband. A Protestant, he firmly refuses to attempt to convert his Catholic wife and rebuffs her attempts to convert him.
Captain Seidlits: Colonel Seidlits' son and Laura's devoted half-brother. An excellent soldier whose fiery temper succeeds in the battlefield but leads to social tension.
Laura Seidlits: Madame de Seidlits' daughter. Beautiful, intelligent, honorable, and accomplished, Laura is sensible of her own desires and strong enough to protect them. Only her affection for her mother weakens her resolve not to marry Zeluco.
Baron Carlostein: Captain Seidlits' friend and fellow officer. His visit to the Seidlits household in Laura's childhood forms her idea of an ideal man. In love with Laura, he is willing to do anything to protect her from the evils of Zeluco.
Father Mulo: A Neapolitan priest. A long-winded and opinionated relation of Laura and Madame de Seidlits, he persuades Madame de Seidlits to attempt to convert Colonel Seidlits to Catholicism.
Father Pedro: Father confessor to Signora Sporza, Laura, and Madame de Seidlits. An insincere priest, he colludes with Zeluco to persuade Laura to marry him after accepting a bribe ostensibly used to improve the church.
The English Mr. N—: A young English nobleman, nephew to a baronet and friend to Signora Sporza, Mr. Steele, and Mr. Squander, as well as Captain Seidlits and Baron Carlostein. He also loves Laura but does not express his feelings in deference to Carlostein.
Mr. Transfer: A rich businessman who retired to the English countryside. Uncle to Mr. Steele and brother to Mrs. Steele, he eventually learns to value his relations in addition to his fortune after connecting with his nephew.
Mrs. Steele: Mr. Transfer's sister, who married a poor man Mr. Transfer deemed an inappropriate husband. Though initially ignored by Mr. Transfer after her husband's death, she reconciles with her brother and comes to live with him after Mr. Steele brings them together.
Mr. Steele: Nephew of Mr. Transfer. Jovial, amicable, unaccomplished, and in love with Miss Warren, he eventually gains her hand in marriage after being improved by his travels with Mr. N—.
Miss Warren: Friend and companion of Lady Elizabeth, she lost her father in a naval battle. She initially refuses to marry Mr. Steele because of his mediocre education and skills.
Lady Elizabeth: A noblewoman who is Mr. Transfer's neighbor, she is the benefactor of Miss Warren.
Mr. Squander: A dour Englishman who gambles compulsively.
The Servants The valet: Zeluco's valet, willing to assist Zeluco in his various plots. Notably, he seduces the Portuguese's wife's maid and pretends to be robber threatening Laura's carriage. He betrays Zeluco to Signora Sporza, however, after Zeluco ignores him after courting Nerina.
George Buchanan: Mr. N—'s Scottish servant. A Protestant, Buchanan attempts to sever any connection between Mr. N— and Laura for fear of his master marrying a Catholic. A Whig, Buchanan opposed the Jacobite Rising of 1745.
Duncan Targe: Captain Seidlits' Scottish servant. Targe supported the Jacobite uprising, and his and Buchanan's political differences lead them to duel with claymores.
Other characters The Italian Nobleman: A member of high society in Italy. Because of his interest in Laura, Zeluco erroneously suspects that Laura returns the Nobleman's affections
Nerina: A young con artist who attracts Zeluco's attention and places him under her power. Nerina's pretended affection for Zeluco and jealousy of Laura cause Zeluco to murder his son and lead to his downfall.