- "'There is a fine old saying, which every body here is of course familiar with -- 'Keep your breath to cool your porridge,' -- and I shall keep mine to swell my song.'" (p. 16)
Darcy begins to listen to Elizabeth's conversations at parties as his attraction toward her increases. In this passage, Elizabeth confronts Darcy's
eavesdropping and then plays music with Miss Lucas. Jane Austen purposely writes -- 'keep your breath to cool your porridge' -- intending for Darcy to hear. This can be interpreted as the familiar saying 'you're wasting your breath' or there is a better use/place for your words. Miss Lucas wishes for Darcy to overhear this harsh comment (which is clearly directed to him) because upon first meeting him, he says many rude, unnecessary remarks which could have easily been spared. This could also be interpreted as 'mind your own business' (in this case, stop listening to Elizabeth's conversations) as Miss Lucas states that
she will use her breath singing songs.
Work Cited:
Word Reference. Web. 13 Mar. 2010. http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=65674.
Photo Credit:
Photograph.
Blogspot.com. Web. 13 Mar. 2010. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZV6ji2smI_t6S5uE6ACMyAZWZrzsxvCp1YOxIaaQD2TPvKMXHQt7OSah1Lopj4kLmtlR18kKhhV6TvUzBaKS9FPMvyalEQD003gyrMJa5i35qiznepBR8_ZhxDcsGjpB_7OTBFADFJNE/s200/d.jpg.
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