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hell hath no fury like...

English translation: William Congreve (1670-1729)


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:hell hath no fury like...
English translation:William Congreve (1670-1729)
Entered by: Mauricio Vicente
Options:
- Contribute to this entry
- Include in personal glossary

11:16 May 9, 2003
English to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary
English term or phrase: hell hath no fury like...
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...
WHere does the saying come from? It is the title of a chapter in my book: "Hell hath no fury", about women who just split up with their boyfriend. I understand it means "I am so furious that I'm gonna make a lot of trouble", am I right
A Mioni
Italy
Local time: 07:02
William Congreve (1670-1729)
Explanation:
"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,
Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."

So says the Macillian Dictionary of Quotations.
Selected response from:

Joseph Bayerl
United States
Local time: 01:02
Grading comment
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +11William Congreve (1670-1729)Joseph Bayerl
5 +3Not just that she's "gonna make a lot of trouble"
Christopher Crockett
4 +1just to add
Ágnes Fülöp
4ShakespearexxxIanW


  

Answers


2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Shakespeare


Explanation:
I'm pretty sure this is Shakespeare. And yes, it means that there is nothing as ferocious as a woman in a rage.

xxxIanW
Local time: 07:02
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 235

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  kalimeh: I also thought it was Shakespear, but just found the following to back up Congreve! We live and learn! http://www.ralphkeyes.com/niceguys/excerpt.htm
7 mins
agree  Bin Zhang
3 hrs
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5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +11
William Congreve (1670-1729)


Explanation:
"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,
Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."

So says the Macillian Dictionary of Quotations.

Joseph Bayerl
United States
Local time: 01:02
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Marie Scarano
2 mins
agree  kalimeh: I also thought it was Shakespear, but just found the following to back up Congreve! We live and learn! http://www.ralphkeyes.com/niceguys/excerpt.htm
4 mins
  -> And thank God for that... ;)
agree  Karen Ordanic
15 mins
agree  Sarah Ponting
56 mins
agree  xxxIno66
1 hr
agree  Christopher Crockett: Yes, but who said, "A little learning is a dangerous thing?" BurmaShave ?
3 hrs
  -> Is learning dangerous? I thought it was like jumping a ditch. It's only dangerous to stop part way... ;)
agree  Bin Zhang
3 hrs
agree  Marion Burns
3 hrs
agree  Jana Teteris
10 hrs
agree  Vanessa Marques: Thank you Joseph and kalimeh (I also thought it was Shakespeare...)
15 hrs
agree  Ágnes Fülöp
21 hrs
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Not just that she's "gonna make a lot of trouble"


Explanation:
Nor that this is just a question of "a woman in a rage" --it's a special kind of rage, as the first line quoted by Joseph Bayerl make clear :

"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned"

It is a very special rage generated by (the Buddhists would say) the violent loss of very deeply held "attachments", themselves the product of "projections" about the nature of the essentially illusionary phenomenal world.
As far as I am aware, Congreve wasn't a Buddhist, but he seems to have made up by observational acuity what he may have lacked in knowledge of Doctrine.


Christopher Crockett
Local time: 01:02
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 120

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Bin Zhang
3 mins
  -> Thanks, Bin Zhang.
agree  Anne Lee: Nicely said.
2 hrs
agree  xxxIno66
6 hrs
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22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
just to add


Explanation:
I had no space above to tell this.

Congrave was an English poet and playwright, a talented figure of the Restoration period. The Restoration period extends from 1660, the year Charles II was restored to the throne, until about 1789. (more info: http://lib.blcu.edu.cn/per/981/en/e-l-5.htm)

During the Restoration period appeared the so called Restoration drama, which specialised mostly in comedy. These comedies mirrored the manners of the day, in which the main ingredients were lust, cuckoldry, intrigue, covered by a smart veneer of wit. (more on Restoration drama: http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/restoration_drama_001....

Congrave's comedies deal with the world of fashion, courtship, seduction. They are beautifully composed.

However, the above quote is from a tragedy called The Mourning Bride. (for more info: http://www.bartleby.com/218/index.html#6)

Here is a link to show the fury of a scorned woman: http://www.explodingdog.com/twoone/hell.html

Good luck!



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-05-10 20:51:17 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry, I just realised that I am consistently writing Congrave instead of Congreve.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-05-14 09:36:00 (GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Now I see that a \'have\' is missing in the above sentence.


    Reference: http://www.bartleby.com/218/0605.html
    Reference: http://www.explodingdog.com/twoone/hell.html
Ágnes Fülöp
Netherlands
Local time: 07:02
Native speaker of: Native in HungarianHungarian
PRO pts in pair: 10

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  xxxErika P: Thanks a lot for the valuable background info, Ágnes. I am now about to embark on a Congreve spree...;-)
36 mins
  -> yeah, he is goood; Love for love is worth reading. I spent a whole seminar on 17th century women at Stirling, reading up on the issue. Congreve has a beautiful style. Thanks a lot, Erika! Good luck!
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