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March 11, 2009 9:11 AM Subscribe
What is the meaning of the phrase, "I will keep my spleen to myself?"
On page 34 of Jane Austen's Emma, during a very humorous exchange between Mr. Knightley and Mrs. Weston, the former remarks wryly that "Emma shall be an angel, and I will keep my spleen to myself till Christmas brings John and Isabella."
I've been itching to find out what this means since I read it last night. My google-fu has failed me.
Thanks MeFites!
On page 34 of Jane Austen's Emma, during a very humorous exchange between Mr. Knightley and Mrs. Weston, the former remarks wryly that "Emma shall be an angel, and I will keep my spleen to myself till Christmas brings John and Isabella."
I've been itching to find out what this means since I read it last night. My google-fu has failed me.
Thanks MeFites!
Another possibility: The connection between spleen (the organ) and melancholy (the temperament) comes from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks.
posted by jon1270 at 9:15 AM on March 11, 2009
posted by jon1270 at 9:15 AM on March 11, 2009
Response by poster: Ah. This is why I love the green. Thank you!
posted by DeltaForce at 9:25 AM on March 11, 2009
posted by DeltaForce at 9:25 AM on March 11, 2009
Old beliefs about where a person's character came from was based on levels of bile and other bodily fluids, some of which were thought to come from the spleen.
among them, red blood, coming from the heart - that one we still use. Emotions like love aren't really thought to come from that organ, and when people use phrases like "you'll always be in my heart" they don't intend anything literal about their blood pump...
posted by mdn at 10:30 AM on March 11, 2009
among them, red blood, coming from the heart - that one we still use. Emotions like love aren't really thought to come from that organ, and when people use phrases like "you'll always be in my heart" they don't intend anything literal about their blood pump...
posted by mdn at 10:30 AM on March 11, 2009
Spleen means anger or ill-temper. But it would have been hard to mention 'spleen' in Regency England without thinking of the most famous fit of spleen in English literature, in Canto IV of Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock, where Spleen is described as:
Parent of Vapours and of female wit,
Who give th'hysteric or poetic fit,
On various tempers act by various ways,
Make some take physic, others scribble plays;
Who cause the proud their visits to delay,
And send the godly in a pet to pray.
So although 'spleen' sounds rather serious, it is undercut by humour, and although Mr Knightley appears to be saying that he's rather annoyed ('I will keep my ill humour to myself', he says a moment later), we can guess that the remark is made with a smile. The alert reader will deduce that even though Mr Knightley likes to find fault with Emma, he is secretly rather fond of her.
posted by verstegan at 1:34 PM on March 11, 2009
Parent of Vapours and of female wit,
Who give th'hysteric or poetic fit,
On various tempers act by various ways,
Make some take physic, others scribble plays;
Who cause the proud their visits to delay,
And send the godly in a pet to pray.
So although 'spleen' sounds rather serious, it is undercut by humour, and although Mr Knightley appears to be saying that he's rather annoyed ('I will keep my ill humour to myself', he says a moment later), we can guess that the remark is made with a smile. The alert reader will deduce that even though Mr Knightley likes to find fault with Emma, he is secretly rather fond of her.
posted by verstegan at 1:34 PM on March 11, 2009
Response by poster: @verstegan, thank you. And yes, Mr. Knightley has definitely been dropping hints all over the place. I see where that is going. Ha.
posted by DeltaForce at 4:40 PM on March 12, 2009
posted by DeltaForce at 4:40 PM on March 12, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jquinby at 9:14 AM on March 11, 2009