Meanings
alternative hell has no fury like a woman scorned
- A woman who has been romantically rejected, betrayed, or otherwise deeply wronged will react with great anger or vindictiveness.
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.
1988 February 7, Michael Bronski, “"Medea," My Dear”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 29, page 11
Origin
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 modern form with 'hath' instead of 'has' is not Congreve's wording; the phrase is often falsely attributed to Shakespeare or the King James Bible.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20hath%20no%20fury%20like%20a%20woman%20scorned
“hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20hath%20no%20fury%20like%20a%20woman%20scorned. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20hath%20no%20fury%20like%20a%20woman%20scorned.
Source: hell hath no fury like a woman scorned on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.