Chapter summaries Loveless Alice Oseman

Chapter 37 Summary: I Love None

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens at the first Shakespeare Soc rehearsal, held in a rented room in one of the large old buildings near Durham Cathedral. Rooney greets Georgia with characteristic enthusiasm, having gone overboard with preparation since Sunil agreed to join—she stayed up until six in the morning planning the show and has scheduled weekly rehearsals for the rest of the year. Rooney has set a target of having the first scenes ready before the Bailey Ball in early December, a deadline she chose mostly to keep everyone committed.

Sunil arrives and meets Jason for the first time. Their exchange is light and slightly awkward, with Sunil commenting on Jason's height. Rooney assigns Jason and Sunil to rehearse a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream on the other side of the room, while Georgia, Pip, and Rooney sit in a circle to read Much Ado About Nothing. Georgia has been cast as Benedick, with Pip as Beatrice.

Georgia reflects that Much Ado is essentially an enemies-to-lovers story, with Beatrice and Benedick hating each other before their friends trick them into falling in love. She tries to get into the scene but struggles, and Rooney criticises her performance, suggesting the role might not suit her. Georgia wonders whether romantic roles are the problem—she'd played them fine in school plays before, so why is she psyching herself out now?

Pip defends Georgia fiercely, challenging Rooney to do better herself. Rooney accepts the challenge, and the two perform the Beatrice and Benedick argument from memory. Their performance is electric—Rooney delivers her lines with intensity, stepping close to Pip, and the charged atmosphere leaves everyone stunned. Pip breaks the moment, red-faced, and they bow to applause.

Jason immediately suggests that Rooney and Pip should take the leads instead, and Georgia agrees without hesitation. The rest of the rehearsal is spent plotting the scene with props and running it a few more times, with Pip and Rooney growing increasingly flustered with each run-through.

After rehearsal, Sunil opens up about how stressful university has been—he was in a bad place as a fresher, spent second year absorbed in Pride Soc, and finds orchestra stressful. He admits he rarely pursues something just for fun, and that this play has been a welcome change. Jason invites him to join the group for pizza sometime, and Sunil accepts before heading off to a tutorial.

While waiting for Pip and Rooney, Jason and Georgia discuss Much Ado and the enemies-to-lovers trope. Georgia jokes that the appeal is the buildup to wild sex, but Jason reveals he doesn't think he'd need sex in a relationship—it's fun, but not a deal-breaker. He suggests people are conditioned to be obsessed with sex when it's really just something people do for fun.

This conversation stays with Georgia. She stands in the doorway, trying to picture a relationship with Jason that doesn't involve sex—kissing, holding hands, being in love, but no sex. She realises she's spent a lot of time thinking about love but had simply assumed sex would automatically be part of it. Sunil had told her some people don't want sex but are happy in relationships without it. Maybe she does like Jason romantically—she just doesn't want to have sex with him.

Key Events

  • First Shakespeare Soc rehearsal in a rented room near Durham Cathedral

  • Sunil meets Jason for the first time

  • Georgia struggles with the Benedick role and is criticised by Rooney

  • Pip challenges Rooney to perform the scene herself

  • Rooney and Pip deliver a charged, memorised performance of the Beatrice and Benedick argument

  • Jason suggests Rooney and Pip take the leads; Georgia agrees

  • Sunil opens up about university stress and the value of doing something fun

  • Jason reveals he doesn't think sex is essential in a relationship

  • Georgia begins to question whether she could be in a romance without sex

Character Development

Georgia — This chapter marks a significant shift in Georgia's self-understanding. Her struggle with the Benedick role isn't just about acting; it's about her discomfort with romantic roles more broadly. The conversation with Jason plants a new idea: that romance and sex don't have to be inseparable. By the end of the chapter, she's actively imagining a relationship with Jason that excludes sex, and she's beginning to separate romantic attraction from sexual desire.

Rooney — Her over-preparation for the play reveals how much she cares about this project, and her performance with Pip shows a different side of her—intense, commanding, and momentarily vulnerable. The way she busies herself with her ponytail after the scene suggests she's affected by the charged moment more than she lets on.

Pip — She defends Georgia fiercely, showing her loyalty. Her challenge to Rooney and her willingness to perform the scene reveal her competitive streak, but also her ability to rise to the occasion. The flush on her cheeks after the performance hints at feelings she may not be ready to acknowledge.

Sunil — He opens up about his difficult fresher year and the stress of university life, showing a more vulnerable side. His appreciation for the play as a fun, low-stakes activity suggests he's been missing this kind of joy.

Jason — His casual revelation about not needing sex in a relationship is quietly significant. He frames it as a personal preference rather than a statement about identity, but it opens a door for Georgia's own self-discovery.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Enemies-to-lovers trope — Much Ado About Nothing serves as a mirror for the chapter's concerns. Georgia loves the trope in fiction but struggles to perform it, and the charged performance between Rooney and Pip brings the trope to life in a way that unsettles everyone. The play's premise—that love can grow from conflict—parallels the developing dynamics between the characters.

Romantic vs sexual attraction — The chapter draws a clear distinction between these two forms of attraction. Georgia's realisation that she might want romance without sex is the chapter's central insight, and Jason's comment provides the catalyst.

Performance and acting — The rehearsal setting allows characters to explore feelings through performance. Georgia's failure to inhabit the romantic lead, and Rooney and Pip's success, suggests that performing romance requires a comfort with it that Georgia doesn't yet have.

University stress — Sunil's confession about his difficult fresher year and the pressure of third year grounds the story in the realities of university life. The play becomes a refuge from that stress.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is pivotal for Georgia's journey of self-discovery. It's the moment she first seriously considers that she might be able to have a romantic relationship without sex—a possibility she'd never before entertained. The chapter also advances the group dynamics, bringing Sunil into the fold and creating new tensions and connections between Pip and Rooney. The rehearsal setting allows the novel to explore themes of performance, identity, and attraction in a way that feels organic to the story.

Study Questions

  1. Why does Georgia struggle to perform the Benedick role, and what does this reveal about her character at this point in the novel?

Georgia's difficulty with the role stems from her discomfort with romantic roles more broadly. She's played them fine in the past, but now she's psyching herself out—perhaps because she's actively questioning her own relationship to romance and attraction. Her inability to inhabit Benedick mirrors her uncertainty about her own romantic identity.

  1. What is the significance of Jason's comment about not needing sex in a relationship?

Jason's comment introduces the possibility that romance and sex can be separated—a concept Georgia had never considered. It directly challenges the assumption she's been carrying that sex would automatically be part of any relationship, and it opens the door for her to imagine a romance with Jason that doesn't include sex.

  1. How does the Much Ado About Nothing rehearsal function as a vehicle for character development in this chapter?

The play serves multiple purposes: it brings the group together, creates new dynamics (particularly between Pip and Rooney), and forces Georgia to confront her discomfort with romantic roles. The play's enemies-to-lovers plot also mirrors the developing tensions and attractions between the characters, while Georgia's failure to perform the role highlights her growing awareness that her own relationship to romance may be different from what she assumed.

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