Ostrich Feather Boa Symbol Analysis

Miss Meadows’s ostrich feather boa—which evokes the myth of ostriches burying their heads in the sand rather than running from danger—symbolizes her stubborn commitment to what is clearly a disastrous engagement. Mansfield describes many red flags about Basil, but Miss Meadows seems to bury her head in the sand about all of them, preferring to stay with her fiancé even as he treats her horribly. For example, in the scene where he proposes to her, he only says “you know, somehow or other, I’ve got fond of you,” which seems like a cold and even insulting way to declare love, though Miss Meadows considers it “a miracle, simply a miracle.” He also writes that, when he thinks of marrying her, he feels disgust, and then crosses that word out lightly so she can still read it. This shows that he doesn’t just feel reluctant to marry—he actually doesn’t care about her feelings at all. There are many indications that he is gay and is only marrying her to appear straight, and one of these indications is that when he proposes to her, he touches not Miss Meadows herself but her ostrich boa. Not only does this indicate a chilly sexual dynamic, but it also associates his proposal with ostriches, which shows him also denying reality and burying his head in the sand of delusion. None of these signs seem to make Miss Meadows change her mind about marrying him, though, and she remains stubbornly in denial about the reality of their future marriage.