Music has charms to soothe a savage beast,

And Heaven has no rage

Like love to hatred turned

Nor Hell a fury

Like a woman scorned.

— William Congreve, The Mourning Bride

Many people attribute that quote to Shakespeare, but the truth is, it’s a different William who actually penned it. Still, it does have a Shakespearean lilt to it, so one can be forgiven if that error is made.

Truthfully, I, too, always thought that it was from Shakespeare, but we live and learn. Shakespeare did say this though, “Teach not thy lip such scorn, for it was made for kissing, lady, not for such contempt.”

What we should also learn is that regardless of who said it, the words ring true, and it’s no joke, nothing to be trifled with, for a woman scorned, or spurned if you prefer, can bring down hell and damnation and a fury that only mother nature can match in the form of a tempest or volcanic eruption.

And that fury comes in all forms too, not always in a blaze of fire, but can be insidious and sneaky as a slow poison, a toxic venom from a viper, or a silent plague of epic proportions.

A woman spurned is a danger, not only to the person who spurned her, but to almost anyone who is in her proximity. A hurricane that does not discriminate in its path of destruction. Plus, the weapons that she uses may even be her own flesh and blood — her children or other family members. That’s the extent to which she’ll go to inflict damage on the object of her rage.

Don’t think that I’m exaggerating either, as you’ll see right after these responses to what I had to say about ‘Remorse, resolution, remake’.

Hey Tony,

Well, as they say, yesterday is gone, you just have to be yourself and carry on. For me, no remorse, reservation, or remake; instead, I’m open to adapting to new rules, adventures, and technical advances. I will continue to be Creator-fearing, be proactive and genuine in spirit, which should in turn result in continuous joy in my life as I embrace the future.

O Turner

Teerob,

Remorse and regrets have no space in my life, as I never look back. There are no ifs and what-ifs in my head, as what’s done is done. I never forced anyone to do anything against their will, I never tricked anybody, I never tied them up and forced myself on them. We were all consenting adults and we knew what we were doing. My only regret is that I didn’t do more of the same to more of them.

Joe

They say that when a woman loves she loves deeply; therefore, when that love is not returned or is cast away like the chaff from wheat, or the husk from corn, then the pain can be devastating to a woman. The first cut is the deepest, it’s been said. A man can be superficial when dealing with a woman, conflating love with lust, and can love ’em and leave ’em without even a cursory glance in his rear view mirror. That’s why men can move on so easily.

But when a woman gives her precious body and even more precious, her heart and soul, to a man, and he embraces them all then decides to spurn her after, expect a backlash of fire and brimstone.

“How do you mean you don’t want to see me again?”

“He just stopped coming by, stopped texting, stopped loving me.”

“Why don’t you call me anymore?”

That can have a devastating effect on a woman, as she feels as if her heart has been ripped from her chest. Some will go gently into the night, but others will lash out with the fury of a banshee just released from the depths of Hades.

Sometimes she will go after the man who spurned her, inflicting injury to his person, raining blows on him or, even worse, mutilating him. This is exacerbated if the man spurned her for another woman, who then becomes the object of her vitriolic vengeance.

“A gwine kill de dutty gyal who take him from me.”

“I’ll mop the floor with her cheap wig.”

“I’ll scratch her eyes out.”

All these and more have been uttered from the mouths of scorned women who exact hellish fury on their targets. Many times though, that fury is directed at the man and his possessions, as she’ll inflict great damage on his vehicle, destroying it by breaking every glass that she can, or she’ll cut up his clothes and throw them out the window like confetti from a ticker tape parade.

She’ll even go after his prized flat screen TV or stereo set, or mash up his apartment, as one female celebrity here did a few years ago. At times though, this fury can be insidious, as I mentioned before, like a stealth bomber, as she uses the children of the union as pawns in her chess game of destruction. There are so many stories regarding this.

There’s this case about this women who tried her best to keep her daughter from seeing the father because the relationship soured. Every effort that the man made to connect with his child she would block it, preventing the man from taking his child to father-daughter bonding activities, always making alternative plans in order to thwart his efforts.

“You can’t take her to the movies today, she has to wash her hair.”

“She has homework to do, call back next week.”

This continued until she eventually left the country to live overseas with the child without even informing the dad, and eventually cut off all communication with the man who has no idea where his daughter is or what she’s doing.

“I heard that she’s in college somewhere in the USA.”

The man hasn’t seen his child in over five years despite being a responsible father in her early years, paying all her school fees and meeting other paternal obligations. Despite this, the mother poisoned the child’s mind against her father and has cut him off completely.

A spurned woman’s fury has no boundaries. Yes, they’ll use the children — real or jacket, pending paternity results — against the man, wielding them like battering rams in order to get to him.

I even know of a case in which this spurned woman told USA immigration that her husband was a drug dealer, so when he arrived at the airport they promptly took him into custody. Of course, her story was fabricated and he was released, but the trauma was devastating.

Some children are so ungrateful that they fall lock step in the march against the father, or so-called father, as the case may be. Nevertheless, some mothers will influence and facilitate the ungrateful pickney and use him as a weapon against the father.

There’s this child who took offence to his father giving him advice and held it against him, cutting off all contact. Thinking that he’d spite the father, he told his mother not to tell the dad that he, too, was about to be a father, as his spouse was pregnant.

Well, the mother was complicit in the scheme of secrecy, having yet another weapon to vent her animus against the man. That fury can be covert and not overt, not violent or in your face, but it still exists. It’s a passive aggressive sort of fury.

It’s sad to say, but sometimes when men seem to abandon their offspring there’s often a back story to the situation. Some children, in reality, abandon their parents.

Some spurned women continually use the child as a weapon, a tool, a lever. But some men will simply walk away, never looking back, as I pointed out before. I have known women who carry grudges, fury, and rage against men who have spurned them for decades. I have this friend who lives in the USA whose wife is still raging mad at him for spurning her. She hasn’t spoken to him for more than 30 years and refuses to be in the same space as him.

Even the children’s graduation ceremony she refused to attend because the father was there. And when the kids got married, she maintained a discreet distance so as not to have any contact with the man.

Just like the fires of hell, that fury can last for eternity. How can someone remain bitter and angry for so long? But hell is forever, they say, and so is the fury of a spurned woman. The irony is the men have moved on, started new lives and never looked back, even as the woman is stewing in her bitterness and anger.

Of course, there are men who deserve this fury, as some guys do treat women badly; however, the issue isn’t about the cause, but the effect of this fury.

“There’s fire in her… if loved correctly, she will warm your entire home; if abused, she will burn it down.”

And don’t take that quote lightly either, for years ago this famous pop singer in the USA burned down her boyfriend’s mansion because he spurned her. And there are many other cases.

You can spurn a woman, yes, but don’t turn your back on her and let down your guard. Keep looking over your shoulder or stay as far away as possible, for that fury can come in many ways.

More time.

seido1yard@gmail.com

Footnote: I’m not really one for the market shopping scene, but I always welcome new experiences. Just recently my better half and I visited Cross Roads market, which has been recently renovated. And what a pleasant experience it was too! Parking was more than adequate, and the stalls were neatly laid out with produce on display with easy access. What was even more noticeable was the cordial and pleasant attitude of the vendors. This market is very old and has great historical value to our country, offering real old-time values in a new kind of way. Like I said, shopping for produce isn’t really my thing, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. So gents, if your wife asks you to go with her, do so, you’ll like it.