--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I asked her what was the matter?…" description: "\"“When I asked her what was the matter? answered, she didn't know; but she felt so afraid of dying!”\" — Emily Brontë" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/emily-bronte-574_afraid_when-i-asked-her-what-was-the-matter-ans_2564083.png" --- # When I asked her what was the matter? answered, she didn't… ![“When I asked her what was the matter? answered, she didn't know; but she felt so afraid of dying!” quote by Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/emily-bronte-574_afraid_when-i-asked-her-what-was-the-matter-ans_2564083.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/emily-bronte-574_afraid_when-i-asked-her-what-was-the-matter-ans_2564083.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/emily-bronte-574_afraid_when-i-asked-her-what-was-the-matter-ans_2564083.png) > ““When I asked her what was the matter? answered, she didn't know; but she felt so afraid of dying!”” [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A woman admits she cannot name her problem, yet she lives in constant fear of death. **In simple terms:** She feels unknown pain and fear of dying. Key Takeaway Address underlying anxieties directly. Themes fear mortality uncertainty Mood somber introspective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - illness - grief - personal crisis - existential crisis Key Concepts existential dread psychological distress Questions to Reflect On - What fears are unnamed in your life? - How can you confront death anxiety? A Different Perspective Fear may mask specific issues needing attention. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) ## Related quotes > [“Somebody you busted?” Amanda asked matter-of-factly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffery-deaver/somebody-you-busted-amanda-asked-matter-of-factly/) [Jeffery Deaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffery-deaver/) > [“Are you afraid of dying, Ferris?' 'I'm afraid of not living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-mccann/are-you-afraid-of-dying-ferris-i-m-afraid-of-not-living/) [Maria McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-mccann/) > [I'm not afraid of dying I'm afraid of not trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/i-m-not-afraid-of-dying-i-m-afraid-of-not-trying/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [I started getting afraid of dying. I don't have any religion and I wanted to understand something about these greater powers without anthropomorphizing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-loeb/i-started-getting-afraid-of-dying-i-don-t-have-any-religion-and-i/) [Damian Loeb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-loeb/) > [It's the one who won't be taken that cannot seem to give, and the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bette-midler/it-s-the-one-who-won-t-be-taken-that-cannot-seem-to-give-and-the-soul/) [Bette Midler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bette-midler/) > [“They were afraid of dying, but they were even more afraid to show it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-brien/they-were-afraid-of-dying-but-they-were-even-more-afraid-to-show-it/) [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) > [I trained for months to figure out how to ride a motorcycle. I have kind of a major fear of them. 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Whatever our two souls are made of, his and mine are the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/he-is-more-myself-than-i-am-whatever-our-two-souls-are-made-of-his/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [I shall smile when wreaths of snow Blossom where the rose should grow; I shall sing when night's decay Ushers in a drearier day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/i-shall-smile-when-wreaths-of-snow-blossom-where-the-rose-should-grow/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [how cruel, your veins are full of ice-water and mine are boiling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/how-cruel-your-veins-are-full-of-ice-water-and-mine-are-boiling/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will changeit,I'mwellaware, aswinterchangesthetrees. 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I doubt whether I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/papa-talks-enough-of-my-defects-and-shows-enough-scorn-of-me-to-make/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“Mama never told me I had a father.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/mama-never-told-me-i-had-a-father/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [The intense horror of nightmare came over me: I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/the-intense-horror-of-nightmare-came-over-me-i-tried-to-draw-back-my/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“It is not in him to be loved like me: how can she love in him what he has not?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/it-is-not-in-him-to-be-loved-like-me-how-can-she-love-in-him-what-he/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [I have lost the faculty of enjoying their destruction, and I am too idle to destroy for nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/i-have-lost-the-faculty-of-enjoying-their-destruction-and-i-am-too/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/my-love-for-heathcliff-resembles-the-eternal-rocks-beneath-a-source/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [Tis moonlight, summer moonlight, All soft and still and fair; The solemn hour of midnight Breathes sweet thoughts everywhere, But most where trees are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/tis-moonlight-summer-moonlight-all-soft-and-still-and-fair-the-solemn/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“It expressed, plainer than words could do, the intense anguish at having made himself the instrument of thwarting his own revenge. Had it been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/it-expressed-plainer-than-words-could-do-the-intense-anguish-at/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) [Explore all 400 Emily Brontë quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) ## More Afraid quotes > [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. 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I'm afraid of, like, creepy men in white vans and sidewalks with no streetlights. 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I want to be perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-altucher/mistakes-i-ve-made-in-the-past-make-me-afraid-to-try-new-things-in/) [James Altucher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-altucher/) > [“Humans are naturally scared and confused beings. They not only fear the unknown, as they live fearing themselves... ☥”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-marques/humans-are-naturally-scared-and-confused-beings-they-not-only-fear/) [Luis Marques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-marques/) > [If you are too afraid of failure, you cant possibly do what needs to be done to succeed in living a fulfilling life. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/if-you-are-too-afraid-of-failure-you-cant-possibly-do-what-needs-to/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [We cannot be afraid of the dark that they live in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burnie-burns/we-cannot-be-afraid-of-the-dark-that-they-live-in/) [Burnie Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burnie-burns/) > [“I think the reason we're cruel sometimes is that we're afraid we're going to like something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-think-the-reason-we-re-cruel-sometimes-is-that-we-re-afraid-we-re/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [I'm still with that feeling that I am afraid of doing the wrong thing, because somebody is going to punish me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eartha-kitt/i-m-still-with-that-feeling-that-i-am-afraid-of-doing-the-wrong-thing/) [Eartha Kitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eartha-kitt/) Browse all 5,519 Afraid quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When I asked her what was the matter? answered, she didn't know; but she felt so afraid of dying!”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emily Brontë" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/when-i-asked-her-what-was-the-matter-answered-she-didn-t-know-but-she/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Afraid" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/when-i-asked-her-what-was-the-matter-answered-she-didn-t-know-but-she/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/emily-bronte-574_afraid_when-i-asked-her-what-was-the-matter-ans_2564083.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/emily-bronte-574_afraid_when-i-asked-her-what-was-the-matter-ans_2564083.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/emily-bronte-574_afraid_when-i-asked-her-what-was-the-matter-ans_2564083.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I asked her what was the matter? answered, she didn't know; but she felt so afraid of dying!” — Emily Brontë", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Emily Brontë", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“When I asked her what was...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/when-i-asked-her-what-was-the-matter-answered-she-didn-t-know-but-she/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/when-i-asked-her-what-was-the-matter-answered-she-didn-t-know-but-she/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```