The Singing Lesson

Basil is Miss Meadows’s fiancé. At the start of the story, he has sent Miss Meadows a letter breaking off their engagement because, while he “loves her as much as he could love any woman” the idea of marriage “fills him with—” and he has written the word “disgust,” crossed it out, and written in “regret.” Miss Meadows believes that his failure to fully remove the word “disgust” shows how little he cares about her, underscoring his general disregard for her feelings. A reader from Mansfield’s time would see many hints in the story that Basil is gay and is marrying Miss Meadows to cover this up. He is vain about his appearance and overly concerned with furniture, which were stereotypes for gay men in the early 20th century. Furthermore, when he proposes to Miss Meadows (rather dispassionately), he touches the end of her ostrich feather boa rather than touching Miss Meadows herself. Their engagement surprises Miss Meadows herself and the people at her school, because he is twenty-five and handsome, where she is thirty, which would have been considered old for a single woman. While both he and Miss Meadows seem to be marrying one another primarily to live up to the expectations of their communities rather than out of love, Basil is quite cruel to Miss Meadows, seeming not to consider her feelings at all when he leaves her a cold note ending their engagement, and then sending a casual, lighthearted telegram renewing their engagement without ever apologizing for—or even acknowledging—the pain he has caused. That he takes Miss Meadows for granted and doesn’t seem all that committed to their engagement suggests rough times ahead.