The Mourning Bride Explained
The Mourning Bride is a tragedy written by English playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1697 at Betterton's Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. The play centers on Zara, a queen held captive by Manuel, King of Granada, and a web of love and deception which results in the mistaken murder of Manuel who is in disguise, and Zara's also mistaken suicide in response.
Quotations
There are two very widely known quotations in the play; from the opening to the play:
Musick has Charms to soothe a savage Breast,[1] The word "breast" is often misquoted as "beast" and "has" sometimes appears as "hath".
Also often repeated is a quotation of Zara in Act III, Scene II:
Heav'n has no rage, like love to hatred turn'd,
Nor hell a fury, like a woman scorn'd.[2] This is usually misquoted as "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."[3]
Notes
- From text at http://talebooks.com/ebooks/557.pdf. See also Quotes from The Mourning Bride.
- Congreve, William (1753). The Mourning Bride: A Tragedy. Dublin: J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper in the Strand. p. 46. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- Web site: Merz. Theo. 21 January 2014. Ten literary quotes we all get wrong. subscription. The Daily Telegraph. 17 August 2018.
References
- Erskine-Hill, H., Lindsay, A. (eds), William Congreve: The Critical Heritage, Routledge (1995).
- Congreve, W., The Works of Mr. Congreve: Volume 2. Containing: The Mourning Bride; The Way of the World; The Judgment of Paris; Semele; and Poems on Several Occasions, Adamant Media (2001), facsimile reprint of a 1788 edition published in London.
- McKenzie, D., The Works of William Congreve: Volume I, OUP Oxford (2011), v. 1, pp. 5–94.
- Congreve, William (1753). The Mourning Bride: A Tragedy. Dublin: J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper in the Strand. p. 46. https://books.google.com/books?id=U3ACAAAAYAAJ Retrieved 18 Aug. 2017.
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