A MIXED PROPOSAL by W.W. JACOBS
1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales
Jon Hagadorn
4.5 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 10 June 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
⭐ SHOW NOTES — "A Mixed Proposal" by W.W. Jacobs
W.W. Jacobs was a master of the light comic tangle, and "A Mixed Proposal" is one of those stories where he lets human pride, romance, and misunderstanding collide in the most entertaining way. Set among ordinary working people—Jacobs' favorite territory—the tale follows a young woman whose future becomes the subject of competing plans, assumptions, and not‑so‑subtle ambitions.
Two would‑be suitors circle the situation with very different ideas about how things ought to go, and Jacobs plays their rivalry with his trademark blend of humor and gentle satire. Every conversation carries an undercurrent of posturing; every gesture seems to mean more than it should. The fun comes from watching how quickly confidence can turn to confusion, and how easily a simple matter of the heart can become a comedy of crossed signals.
At its core, the story is about the awkwardness of courtship and the way people—especially those who think they have everything figured out—can be blindsided by their own assumptions. Jacobs keeps the tone light, the dialogue sharp, and the emotional stakes just high enough to keep listeners leaning in.
It's a charming, character‑driven piece that showcases Jacobs' gift for turning everyday situations into memorable little dramas.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back, everyone to one thousand one classic short stories and tales. |
| 0:18.2 | This is your host, John Haggardorn. |
| 0:23.1 | Today, WW Jacobs' story, |
| 0:29.3 | A Mixed Proposal. Jacobs had a gift for taking the everyday rhythms of working class London life and turning them into sharply observed little comedies of human nature. A mixed proposal is one of |
| 0:34.8 | those pieces, light on his feet, sly in its humor, and built around |
| 0:39.0 | the kind of misunderstanding that only Jacobs could spin into something memorable. |
| 0:43.7 | At the center of the story is a young woman whose future seems to be the subject of everyone's |
| 0:47.9 | planning but her own, and two men who are each convinced that they know exactly what she needs. |
| 0:54.0 | Jacobs plays the situation with a wink. |
| 0:57.0 | Pride, romance, jealousy, and a touch of male bluster |
| 1:00.5 | all collide in a way that feels both timeless and unmistakably, WW Jacobs. |
| 1:06.7 | What makes the story fun is not just the romantic tangle, |
| 1:10.3 | but the way Jacobs captures the awkwardness of courtship. |
| 1:13.5 | The assumptions people make, the signals they miss, and the links they'll go to in order to save face. |
| 1:19.5 | It's a gentle reminder that love, in any era, is rarely straightforward, and often funniest when it's most complicated. |
| 1:27.2 | Settle in for a charming |
| 1:28.2 | slice of Jacob's humor and humanity, as we share a mixed proposal. |
| 1:34.4 | Major Brill. Late to the Fenshire Volunteers stood in front of the small piece of glass |
| 1:39.9 | in the hatstand, and with a firm and experienced hand, gave his new silk cow to slight tilt over |
| 1:44.9 | the right eye. Then he took his cane and a new pair of gloves, and with a military but squeaky |
| 1:50.9 | tread, passed out into the road. It was a glorious day in early autumn, and the soft English |
| 1:57.1 | landscape was looking its best, but despite the fact that there was nothing more alarming |
... |
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