This quote from "Great Expectations"...

[Jmpjmpleeds]

"An indigestive single woman, who called her rigidity religion, and her liver love"

What does the reference to her liver mean here? I presume it's something to do with the liver being seen as the seat of passion, but why would she mistake the seat of passion for passion itself?

No AI please!

I think I’ve always read it as something along the lines of she’s so obsessed with her own bile and bodily functions, she doesn’t know the meaning of real, emotional feelings like love. But now I’ve written it down, I don’t know if that’s too modern a reading?

The liver was metaphorically and medically associated with irritability (believed to be caused by excess bile), which she has in spades. It's one of Great Expectation's great expressions.

I think Dickens was probably being very unfair on her. My guess is that she was grumpy as a result of carrying the entire mental load, as a result of Joe's personality. His placidity and good nature are probably facilitated by not really pulling his weight in the household. He's a bit of a disney dad brother-in-law