The aspidistra is a hardy, long-living plant that has been used as a house plant in England, and which can grow to an impressive, even unwieldy size. It was especially popular in the Victorian era, in large part because it could tolerate not only weak sunlight but also the poor indoor air quality that resulted from the use of oil lamps and, later, coal gas lamps. Aspidistras had fallen out of favour by the 20th century, following the advent of electric lighting, but their use had been so widespread among the middle class that they had become a music hall joke,[13] appearing in songs such as "Biggest Aspidistra in the World", of which Gracie Fields made a recording.
In the titular phrase Orwell uses the aspidistra, a symbol of the stuffiness of middle-class society, in conjunction with the locution "to keep the flag (or colours) flying."[14] The title can thus be interpreted as a sarcastic exhortation in the sense of "Hooray for the middle class!"
Orwell also used the phrase in his previous novel A Clergyman's Daughter (1935), where a character sings the words to the tune of the German national anthem.[15]
In subsequent adaptations and translations the original title has frequently been altered; in German, to the equivalent of "The Joys of the Aspidistra", in Spanish to "Don't Let the Aspidistra Die", in Italian to "May the Aspidistra Bloom", in Dutch to "Keep the Sanseveria High". The 1997 film adaptation was released in the United States as A Merry War.
"Keep the aspidistra flying!" is the final line of Nexus by Henry Miller, published in 1959. Orwell owned some of Miller's works while he was working at Booklovers' Corner. The books were banned in the UK at the time.[16]
