--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But her life was as cold as an attic…" description: "\"“But her life was as cold as an attic facing north; and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving its web in the shadows, in every corner of her heart..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d16/gustave-flaubert-354_boredom_but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-fac_35308.jpg" --- # But her life was as cold as an attic facing north; and… ![“But her life was as cold as an attic facing north; and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving its web in the shadows, in every corner of her heart.” quote by Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d16/gustave-flaubert-354_boredom_but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-fac_35308.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d16/gustave-flaubert-354_boredom_but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-fac_35308.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d16/gustave-flaubert-354_boredom_but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-fac_35308.jpg) > ““But her life was as cold as an attic facing north; and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving its web in the shadows, in every corner of her heart.”” [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage depicts a life of emotional isolation and pervasive ennui, using cold and spider imagery to convey an internal landscape of stagnation and dread. **In simple terms:** Emotional isolation and ennui Key Takeaway Coldness and boredom trap the heart Themes Isolation Boredom Stagnation Atmosphere Metaphor Mood Melancholy Despair Stifling Type Descriptive Metaphorical Atmospheric When to use this quote - A character feeling trapped in a loveless marriage - An elderly person living alone after loss - A student stuck in a monotonous routine - An artist experiencing creative block Key Concepts Cold imagery Spider metaphor Heart as space Attic setting North orientation Practical Applications - Literary analysis of mood - Therapeutic exploration of emotional numbness Questions to Reflect On - What does the attic symbolize for the character? - How does the spider metaphor deepen the sense of dread? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [•"for her, life was as cold as an attic with a window looking to the north, and ennui, like a spider, was silently spinning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/for-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-with-a-window-looking-to-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“But she—her life was cold as a garret whose dormer window looks on the north, and ennui, the silent spider, was weaving its web…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/but-she-her-life-was-cold-as-a-garret-whose-dormer-window-looks-on/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Boredom, that silent spider, was spinning its web in the darkness in every corner of her heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/boredom-that-silent-spider-was-spinning-its-web-in-the-darkness-in/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“He recommended that certain classes of people should be gradually eliminated: but he had never been there when a small shopkeeper went to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/he-recommended-that-certain-classes-of-people-should-be-gradually/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [Boredom is like a pitiless zooming in on the epidermis of time. Every instant is dilated and magnified like the pores of the face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/boredom-is-like-a-pitiless-zooming-in-on-the-epidermis-of-time-every/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've never been someone who's very prone to boredom. I don't know, boredom seems like something you should grow out of at about 15…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-isbell/i-ve-never-been-someone-who-s-very-prone-to-boredom-i-don-t-know/) [Jason Isbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-isbell/) > [The world is eaten up by boredom. You can't see it all at once. It is like dust. You go about and never notice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/the-world-is-eaten-up-by-boredom-you-can-t-see-it-all-at-once-it-is/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [Nothing prevents boredom like a good book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dav-pilkey/nothing-prevents-boredom-like-a-good-book/) [Dav Pilkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dav-pilkey/) > [“There would be sadness and nightmares. And there would be lovemaking and the holding close of children and friends and dogs -- affirmations of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kij-johnson/there-would-be-sadness-and-nightmares-and-there-would-be-lovemaking/) [Kij Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kij-johnson/) > [They say you need food, shelter, and clothing to live, but without companionship, life would be cold and humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/they-say-you-need-food-shelter-and-clothing-to-live-but-without/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is only worth living if you have someone to live for. I lost you so living this life is empty and cold and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane/life-is-only-worth-living-if-you-have-someone-to-live-for-i-lost-you/) Jane > [A Mind, Like A Home, Is Furnished By Its Owner. So If Ones Life Is Cold And Bare, He Can blame None But Only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/a-mind-like-a-home-is-furnished-by-its-owner-so-if-ones-life-is-cold/) Pacifiersucker > [Cold - cold as truth, cold as life. No, nothing can be as cold as life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rhys/cold-cold-as-truth-cold-as-life-no-nothing-can-be-as-cold-as-life/) [Jean Rhys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rhys/) > [“I want people who write to crash or dive below the surface, where life is so cold and confusing and hard to see. Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-want-people-who-write-to-crash-or-dive-below-the-surface-where-life/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Whether you're rich or poor, life's still cold-blooded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-james/whether-you-re-rich-or-poor-life-s-still-cold-blooded/) [Rick James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-james/) ## More by Gustave Flaubert > [As for the piano, the faster her fingers flew over it, the more he marveled. She struck the keys with aplomb and ran from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/as-for-the-piano-the-faster-her-fingers-flew-over-it-the-more-he/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Caught up in life, you see it badly. You suffer from it or enjoy it too much. The artist, in my opinion, is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/caught-up-in-life-you-see-it-badly-you-suffer-from-it-or-enjoy-it-too/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“When one does something, one must do it wholly and well. Those bastard existences where you sell suet all day and write poetry at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-one-does-something-one-must-do-it-wholly-and-well-those-bastard/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Love is a springtime plant that perfumes everything with its hope, even the ruins to which it clings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/love-is-a-springtime-plant-that-perfumes-everything-with-its-hope/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [When you reduce a woman to writing, she makes you think of a thousand other women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-you-reduce-a-woman-to-writing-she-makes-you-think-of-a-thousand/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/travel-makes-one-modest-you-see-what-a-tiny-place-you-occupy-in-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“We must not touch our idols; the gilt sticks to our fingers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/we-must-not-touch-our-idols-the-gilt-sticks-to-our-fingers/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [A superhuman will is needed in order to write, and I am only a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/a-superhuman-will-is-needed-in-order-to-write-and-i-am-only-a-man/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [The writer must wade into life as into the sea, but only up to the navel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/the-writer-must-wade-into-life-as-into-the-sea-but-only-up-to-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [COLD. Healthier than heat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/cold-healthier-than-heat/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [And indeed, what is better than to sit by one's fireside in the evening with a book, while the wind beats against the window…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/and-indeed-what-is-better-than-to-sit-by-one-s-fireside-in-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [One's existence should be in two parts: one should live like a bourgeois and think like a demigod.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/one-s-existence-should-be-in-two-parts-one-should-live-like-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Emma was no asleep, she was pretending to be asleep; and, while he was dozing off at her side, she lay awake, dreaming other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/emma-was-no-asleep-she-was-pretending-to-be-asleep-and-while-he-was/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Maybe happiness too is a metaphor invented on a day of boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/maybe-happiness-too-is-a-metaphor-invented-on-a-day-of-boredom/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) [Explore all 526 Gustave Flaubert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) ## More Boredom quotes > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/) [Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/) > [When people look in the mirror, sometimes they see are their shells in the mirror, nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-look-in-the-mirror-sometimes-they-see-are-their-shells-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think anyone wants to do the same thing over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bachmann/i-don-t-think-anyone-wants-to-do-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again/) [Eric Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bachmann/) > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The most total opposite of pleasure is not pain but boredom, for we are willing to risk pain to make a boring life interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-most-total-opposite-of-pleasure-is-not-pain-but-boredom-for-we/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [We shop out of boredom, for release, for excitement, for a sense of achievement, for a sense of control over our unruly existences. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/we-shop-out-of-boredom-for-release-for-excitement-for-a-sense-of/) [Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/) > [That human life must be some kind of mistake is sufficiently proved by the simple observation that man is a compound of needs which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/that-human-life-must-be-some-kind-of-mistake-is-sufficiently-proved/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [The worst sin, the ultimate sin for me, in anything, is to be bored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/the-worst-sin-the-ultimate-sin-for-me-in-anything-is-to-be-bored/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/exploitation-and-manipulation-produce-boredom-and-triviality-they/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Listen deeply. Meditate on that which is arising. Even if it's boredom or difficulty or maybe a feeling of being stuck, that in itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-yee/listen-deeply-meditate-on-that-which-is-arising-even-if-it-s-boredom/) [Rodney Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-yee/) [Browse all 1,505 Boredom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But her life was as cold as an attic facing north; and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving its web in the shadows, in every corner of her heart.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gustave Flaubert" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-facing-north-and-boredom-like-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Boredom" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-facing-north-and-boredom-like-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d16/gustave-flaubert-354_boredom_but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-fac_35308.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d16/gustave-flaubert-354_boredom_but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-fac_35308.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d16/gustave-flaubert-354_boredom_but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-fac_35308.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But her life was as cold as an attic facing north; and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving its web in…” — Gustave Flaubert", "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": "Gustave Flaubert", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But her life was as cold...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-facing-north-and-boredom-like-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-facing-north-and-boredom-like-a/#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 } } ] } ```