--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And yet and yet! That strained look on…" description: "\"“And yet and yet! That strained look on her face! A gnawing sorrow is there all the time. Her very soul is in her eyes and she would give worlds to be ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/james-joyce-281_grief_and-yet-and-yet-that-strained-look-on-he_2054149.jpg" --- # And yet and yet! That strained look on her face! A gnawing… ![“And yet and yet! That strained look on her face! A gnawing sorrow is there all the time. Her very soul is in her eyes and she would give worlds to be in the privacy of her own familiar chamber where, giving way to tears, she could have a good cry and relieve her pentup feelings. Though not too…” quote by James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/james-joyce-281_grief_and-yet-and-yet-that-strained-look-on-he_2054149.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/james-joyce-281_grief_and-yet-and-yet-that-strained-look-on-he_2054149.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/james-joyce-281_grief_and-yet-and-yet-that-strained-look-on-he_2054149.jpg) > ““And yet and yet! That strained look on her face! A gnawing sorrow is there all the time. Her very soul is in her eyes and she would give worlds to be in the privacy of her own familiar chamber where, giving way to tears, she could have a good cry and relieve her pentup feelings. Though not too much because she knew how to cry nicely before the mirror. You are lovely, Gerty, it said.”” [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A character feels deep, lingering sorrow and longs for a private space to release emotions, showing the tension between inner pain and social restraint. **In simple terms:** She wants a private place to cry and release feelings. Key Takeaway Allow yourself safe moments to process emotions. Themes sorrow privacy emotional release self‑care Mood melancholic introspective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - personal crisis - grief coping - private reflection - emotional health Key Concepts psychology introspection social expectations Questions to Reflect On - How do you create private space for emotional release? - What social pressures limit your vulnerability? A Different Perspective She may suppress emotions to maintain composure, hindering healing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gerty Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gerty-said-3885601/) [Gnawing Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gnawing-sorrow-1834249/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Pentup Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pentup-feelings-3885600/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Sorrow Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow-time-1898985/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [She was the epitome of stately sorrow each time she smiled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/she-was-the-epitome-of-stately-sorrow-each-time-she-smiled/) [Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/) > [“Away There is no sorrow Time heals never; No loss, betrayal, Beyond repair. Balm for the soul, then, Though grave shall sever Lover from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-de-la-mare/away-there-is-no-sorrow-time-heals-never-no-loss-betrayal-beyond/) [Walter de la Mare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-de-la-mare/) > [I do feel a gnawing sorrow sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simi-garewal/i-do-feel-a-gnawing-sorrow-sometimes/) [Simi Garewal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simi-garewal/) > [“When sweet lullabies are whispered into the sky, my heart is filled with with the sorrow of time. So when the kiss of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-aurora/when-sweet-lullabies-are-whispered-into-the-sky-my-heart-is-filled/) [Melody Aurora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-aurora/) > [“Was then not all sorrow in time, all self-torment and fear in time? Were not all difficulties and evil in the world conquered as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/was-then-not-all-sorrow-in-time-all-self-torment-and-fear-in-time/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [A glooming peace this morning with it brings; The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head: Go hence, to have more talk of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-glooming-peace-this-morning-with-it-brings-the-sun-for-sorrow-will/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Grief is not in the nature of things, but in opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/grief-is-not-in-the-nature-of-things-but-in-opinion/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [The tortures of present death disturb him not, but the recollection of his fall, fills him with a holy sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-strachan/the-tortures-of-present-death-disturb-him-not-but-the-recollection-of/) [John Strachan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-strachan/) > [Everyone is in pain.No matter where they come from or what u think of them. Sorrow spares no one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hemantsmarty/everyone-is-in-pain-no-matter-where-they-come-from-or-what-u-think-of/) [Hemantsmarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hemantsmarty/) > [Enough for this bow & arrow. It caused me nothing but sorrow. No need for another tomorrow. In your heart, I will never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louaiq8/enough-for-this-bow-arrow-it-caused-me-nothing-but-sorrow-no-need-for/) [Louaiq8](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louaiq8/) > [Sorrow burns up a great amount of shallowness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/sorrow-burns-up-a-great-amount-of-shallowness/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [“Without a song, life is a sorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/without-a-song-life-is-a-sorrow/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Sorrow and happiness are the heresies of virtue; joy and anger lead astray from TAO; love and hate cause loss of virtue. The heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/sorrow-and-happiness-are-the-heresies-of-virtue-joy-and-anger-lead/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) ## More by James Joyce > [He found in the world without as actual what was in his world within as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/he-found-in-the-world-without-as-actual-what-was-in-his-world-within/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“Ah, poor dogsbody! Here lies poor dogsbody's body.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/ah-poor-dogsbody-here-lies-poor-dogsbody-s-body/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Shaw's works make me admire the magnificent tolerance and broadmindedness of the english.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/shaw-s-works-make-me-admire-the-magnificent-tolerance-and/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“Do you know what Ireland is?' asked Stephen with cold violence. 'Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/do-you-know-what-ireland-is-asked-stephen-with-cold-violence-ireland/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [The studious silence of the library ... Thought is the thought of thought. Tranquil brightness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thought-is-the-thought-of-thought/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“two cronies drank to the memory of their past. An abyss of fortune or of temperament sundered him from them. His mind seemed older…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/two-cronies-drank-to-the-memory-of-their-past-an-abyss-of-fortune-or/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [He passes, struck by the stare of truculent Wellington but in the convex mirror grin unstruck the bonham eyes and fatchuck cheekchops of Jollypoldy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/he-passes-struck-by-the-stare-of-truculent-wellington-but-in-the/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“-Qui vous a mis dans cette fichue position?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/qui-vous-a-mis-dans-cette-fichue-position/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [I hear the ruin of all space, shattered glass and toppled masonry, and time one livid final flame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/i-hear-the-ruin-of-all-space-shattered-glass-and-toppled-masonry-and/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Full many a flower is born to blush unseen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/full-many-a-flower-is-born-to-blush-unseen/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [In woman's womb word is made flesh but in the spirit of the maker all flesh that passes becomes the word that shall not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/in-woman-s-womb-word-is-made-flesh-but-in-the-spirit-of-the-maker-all/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Though people may read more into Ulysses than I ever intended, who is to say that they are wrong: do any of us know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/though-people-may-read-more-into-ulysses-than-i-ever-intended-who-is/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/history-stephen-said-is-a-nightmare-from-which-i-am-trying-to-awake/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“It flows purling, widely flowing, floating foampool, flower unfurling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/it-flows-purling-widely-flowing-floating-foampool-flower-unfurling/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) [Explore all 707 James Joyce quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) ## More Grief quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. But no matter how deeply you live, it comes to this in the end: one of you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/they-had-lived-they-d-lived-intensely-but-no-matter-how-deeply-you/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [... how much of our inner substance is it good for us to give to public griefs? The whole modern tendency to agonize over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/how-much-of-our-inner-substance-is-it-good-for-us-to-give-to-public/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-learn-to-attribute-meaning-to-the-events-in-our-lives-we/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [That Woman is in love with her own grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/that-woman-is-in-love-with-her-own-grief/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“You've been my beacon of light in my storm of grief, and I don't know if I could live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-ashley/you-ve-been-my-beacon-of-light-in-my-storm-of-grief-and-i-don-t-know/) [Katie Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-ashley/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) [Browse all 8,012 Grief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And yet and yet! That strained look on her face! A gnawing sorrow is there all the time. Her very soul is in her eyes and she would give worlds to be in the privacy of her own familiar chamber where, giving way to tears, she could have a good cry and relieve her pentup feelings. Though not too much because she knew how to cry nicely before the mirror. You are lovely, Gerty, it said.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Joyce" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/and-yet-and-yet-that-strained-look-on-her-face-a-gnawing-sorrow-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/and-yet-and-yet-that-strained-look-on-her-face-a-gnawing-sorrow-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/james-joyce-281_grief_and-yet-and-yet-that-strained-look-on-he_2054149.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/james-joyce-281_grief_and-yet-and-yet-that-strained-look-on-he_2054149.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/james-joyce-281_grief_and-yet-and-yet-that-strained-look-on-he_2054149.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And yet and yet! That strained look on her face! A gnawing sorrow is there all the time. Her very soul is in…” — James Joyce", "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": "James Joyce", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“And yet and yet! That strained...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/and-yet-and-yet-that-strained-look-on-her-face-a-gnawing-sorrow-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/and-yet-and-yet-that-strained-look-on-her-face-a-gnawing-sorrow-is/#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 } } ] } ```