The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (271 page)

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Authors: John Andrew Simpson,

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, in other circumstances a woman is full of fear and shuns to confront force and iron; but when she has been wronged in a matter of sex, there is no other heart more bloodthirsty. The idea was a commonplace in the Renaissance; e.g.
a
1625
BEAUMONT & FLETCHER
Knight of Malta
I. i. The wages of scorn'd Love is baneful hate.

1696
Love's Last Shift
IV. 71
No Fiend in Hell can match the fury of a disappointed Woman!—Scorned! slighted; dismissed without a parting Pang!
1697
Mourning Bride
III. 39
Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd.
1886
Chamber over Gate
xxvi.
You know ‘Hell hath no fury,’ etc. If your wife should ever wake up to the true state of the case .. I'm afraid she'd be an ugly customer.
1940
Glass Triangle
x.
If you really want to know who could have wanted to kill him .. start with me .. You've heard that one about hell having no fury like a woman scorned.
1973
Black Prince
330
‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’ In a way I might have been flattered.