“Anna, you quite take my breath away.”
Why it's great
A mother's version of shock: too decorous to shout, so the wonder steals her breath instead.
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Use it yourself
The view from the cliff quite takes my breath away.
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Anna Brings Home a Fiance, Explained
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir · 1947
Chapter 17 of 18 · 2'35"
Anna bursts in from university with a young man and a marriage plan, asking for her mother's "blessing." Lucy is delighted — "Anna, you quite take my breath away" — yet the same visit quietly asks her to give up the house she loves and move in with the newlyweds. The celebration is also a goodbye in disguise.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:14–0:43
Anna Surprises Her Mother With an Engagement
29s
Anna Brings Home a Fiance, explained
What happens
Anna, now at university, slips away and comes home with a young man named Bill — Sir Evelyn Scathe, a naval sublieutenant — and announces they are thinking of getting engaged. Lucy is stunned and happy, sends Bill to make himself at home, and tells Martha to set two more places for tea. Then Anna asks her mother to move in with them, and Lucy gently refuses.
What's really going on
On the surface this is a happy engagement visit: Anna has found a titled naval officer and wants her mother's blessing. Underneath, it is a tug-of-war over Lucy's independence. Anna assumes her widowed mother has been lonely and should now be folded into the new household. Lucy refuses without a scene, and her reason is the scene's real subject: "You can be much more alone with other people than you are by yourself, even it's people you love." She has built a life — and a house, Gull Cottage — that she will not trade for company. A line thrown at Anna, "She'll have her own way, same as her mother," and Lucy's quiet "I shall live here till I die" frame the real question: whose life is it?
Key lines & what they mean
- “Anna, you quite take my breath away.”
- Lucy's reaction to her daughter's sudden news: she is so startled and happy she can barely speak. 'Quite' here means 'completely.'
- “She'll have her own way, same as her mother.”
- A dry aside about Anna: she will do exactly what she wants, just as Lucy always has. The joke is that the mother is being described by her own stubbornness.
- “I've never been so happy in all my life.”
- Anna's answer to Lucy, dismissing any hesitation: this engagement is the happiest thing that has ever happened to her.
- “You can be much more alone with other people than you are by yourself, even it's people you love.”
- Lucy's refusal in one line: company can feel more isolating than solitude, even when the people around you are loved ones.
- “I love this house, and I've been very happy here, and I shall live here till I die.”
- Lucy ends the argument about moving: Gull Cottage is not just property but the life she chose, and she will stay in it to the end.
Theme
- Family love — Anna wants her mother's blessing, but Lucy won't reshape her life around the newlyweds.
- Loneliness — Lucy argues that company can feel lonelier than solitude, and chooses to stay in her own house.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
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Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“She'll have her own way, same as her mother.”
Why it's great
One dry line lumps mother and daughter together, teasing both without malice.
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Informal
Use it yourself
He'll have his own way, same as his father.
“I've never been so happy in all my life.”
Why it's great
A plain superlative that turns a fleeting moment into the peak of a whole life.
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Neutral
Use it yourself
I've never been so proud in all my life.
“You can be much more alone with other people than you are by yourself, even it's people you love.”
Why it's great
A quiet paradox: company can isolate you more than solitude, even the company of people you love.
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literary
Use it yourself
You can be more alone at a party than you are at home.
“I love this house, and I've been very happy here, and I shall live here till I die.”
Why it's great
Three clauses climb to a final vow: this house is not a stop but a life sentence of love.
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literary
Use it yourself
I love this town, and I shall live here till I die.
Up next · 18hopelessly in loveThe scene: Anna and Lucy Talk About the CaptainTakeaways
What you walk away with- Hospitality is Lucy's way of buying a moment to think.
- The engagement is announced before the groom can speak.
- Her refusal is gentle but leaves no room for debate.
- Martha's teasing keeps the family scene from turning solemn.
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Questions, then the linesWhy does Anna want her mother to move in with her and Bill?
Anna believes Lucy has been alone too long and that marriage means folding family back together. She and Bill have already discussed it — 'I've discussed it with Bill' — and she presents the move as settled: 'You're to come and live with us, you and Martha.' She means it kindly, but she never asks what Lucy wants.
Why does Lucy refuse to leave Gull Cottage?
She says plainly, 'I love this house, and I've been very happy here, and I shall live here till I die.' The cottage is the independence she built after her husband died — the one life that is entirely hers. Moving in with the newlyweds would mean giving that up, and she won't.
Is Bill actually proposing, or is Anna doing it for him?
Anna is running ahead: 'we're thinking of getting engaged,' she announces. Bill's reply is wry — 'I haven't even asked her yet, but if she keeps on committing us, I suppose I'll have to.' He is willing, but he clearly isn't the one driving the engagement.
Who is 'She' in 'She'll have her own way, same as her mother'?
'She' is Anna. The line is a dry aside that the daughter is just as headstrong as Lucy — both do exactly as they please. It is aimed at Lucy as much as at Anna, since it explains where Anna got it from.
Does Anna know about Captain Gregg?
Her final question — 'With Captain Gregg?' — suggests she senses something. Lucy lives at Gull Cottage, formerly the captain's house, and Anna has grown up hearing about him. The film leaves the ghost a private matter between Lucy and the house, so Anna's question hangs in the air.