The Mourning Bride is a tragedy written by British 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.
There are two very widely known quotations in the play; from the opening to the play:
Music has charms to soothe a savage breast,
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 VIII:
Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred turned,Nor hell a fury, like a woman scorned.
This is usually paraphrased as "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
