Our Evenings

In this section, Mr. Hudson, like Mark Hadlow, becomes a father figure to Dave. Mr. Hudson is 19 years older than Dave and is well established in life. Unlike Mark, whom Dave sees primarily in an aspirational way as a successful and wealthy figure of authority and kindness, Dave’s perspective on Mr. Hudson is multilayered. He appreciates the older man’s intellect and knowledge of music—these further develop Dave’s cultural understanding, just as the Hadlow scholarship allowed Dave access to education—but he is also attracted to Mr. Hudson sexually and considers whether the teacher is an appropriate model for being gay in mid-century Britain. These overlapping ideas make the relationships complex, though the ambiguity is one-sided, as Mr. Hudson never makes any gesture toward bonding with Dave over anything but music.

The novel contrasts legal, cultural, and personal ramifications of changing attitudes toward being gay, all of which are part of Discovering and Accepting One’s Sexual Orientation. In Chapter 13, Mr. Hudson supervises a discussion with seven senior students about a bill to legalize gay sex between consenting adults going through Parliament. Up to that point, although same-gender sexual activity was illegal in Britain, the movement toward decriminalization had been gaining ground since the 1950s. This bill became the Sexual Offences Act of 1967, which decriminalized private same-sex acts between men over 21, while such acts in public remained illegal. For Dave, the fact that his classmates’ mock vote is in favor of the bill shows some lessening of stigma around being gay.

Culturally, the novel considers some of the historical complexities of gender representation in the theater in the UK. Because women were legally banned from the stage until 1661, female characters in plays were performed by male actors. Even after they were legally allowed to perform, actresses were often viewed as sex workers, and for the next several centuries, their appearance in the theater was provocative. From this stemmed a long tradition of the “pantomime dame”—comedic roles in which the cross-dressing of an obviously male actor was a large part of the humor. The resulting exploration of gender and sexuality on the stage intersects in the novel with attitudes toward being gay, as in his last year at Bampton, Dave participates in the tradition by playing the major role of Lady Wishfort in William Congreve’s The Way of the World, a Restoration comedy first performed in 1700. Lady Wishfort is a sexually over-eager character who is meant to be comedically unappealing—a prime example of the pantomime dame role.

Despite Dave’s actorly success at Oxford and the audition invitation from the BBC, it is clear that he will face intersectional challenges because of his racial heritage in a country still full of Racism and Prejudice. As he acknowledges to Nick, Dave does not look much like, say, Alan Bates, a traditionally handsome white English actor famous in the 1960s. This recalls the comments made by Mark’s mother, Elise, years earlier, that nonwhite actors are at a disadvantage in the profession and are only hired for stereotypical roles.

In his private life, there is a mixture of acceptance and tolerance with bigotry and hatred. Chapter 14’s revelation that Dave’s mother is in a lesbian relationship with Esme provokes an extremely hostile reaction in Uncle Brian, who decides to cut the couple out of the family. While this display of anti-gay prejudice is reprehensible, the novel does include the tremendous silver lining that Avril, Esme, and Dave no longer have to be in Brian’s presence—their Christmas at home is markedly warmer and more loving, as is the women’s response to Dave’s coming out.

Dave’s maturation is marked as an important watershed moment and the introduction of a new key theme: The Ease of Falling in Love. The academic prizes that Dave wins at Oxford are testament to his intellectual and seemingly an indicator of coming great success. However, this potential is undercut by Dave’s strong unfulfilled emotional and sexual needs. He longs for connection and intimacy, but finding a suitable partner is difficult. Meeting Nick represents Dave’s first time falling in love, which he does almost instantly after knowing Nick for a few days. When Nick returns Dave’s feelings only platonically, Dave is crushed. The emotional upheaval impacts his self-confidence to the point that the pressures to be brilliant in the play Volpone, to go on to earn a doctorate, and to continue being socially competent and well liked prove to be too much. Dave’s academic failure and departure from Oxford present a dramatic turning point in his life, a suitable ending for Part 1. He will continue to search for love with another man throughout the novel.