The Mourning Bride


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 centres 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:
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:
This is usually paraphrased as "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
Potentially anticipating Congreve, Colley Cibber's play Love's Last Shift in 1696: