hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

English

Alternative forms

• hell has no fury like a woman scorned

Etymology

First written as "Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd." in the 1697 play The Mourning Bride (Act III Scene 2) by William Congreve. The "hath" is a hypercorrection based on false chronological assumption and perception that the saying is ancient, dating to at least the grammar of Early Modern English (which the time of writing would be at the end of); this is also reinforced by the phrase often being falsely attributed to Shakespeare or the King James Bible.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /hɛl hæθ nəʊ ˈfjʊəɹi laɪk ə ˈwʊmən skɔːnd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /hɛl hæθ noʊ ˈfjʊɹi laɪk ə ˈwʊmən skɔɹnd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Proverb

hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

1. A woman will make someone suffer if they reject her.
   • 1988 February 7, Michael Bronski, “"Medea," My Dear”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 29, page 11:

     Rather than presenting Medea as the epitome of the "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...," this Medea shows her not so much as a woman bent upon revenge, but as someone who has been betrayed and must for her own sense of preservation must right the wrongs done to her.