The old say goes Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned

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Here's how things will go.

1. Woman gets attacked by an evildoer.

2. Man hits the evildoer as hard as he can. With his penis.

3. Man curls up in a ball screaming "Oh my God, my penis!"

You're probably right. But I think you're taking a rather one-sided view of a one-sided proverb. It's written from a man's perspective to a male audience. You're not meant to understand it the same way a man would.

Actually, our penis gives us an extra head to think with.

Actually, within the play where this phrase first appeared:

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Mourn ... 2C_Scene_2

(scroll down all the way to the bottom)

Perez (the captain of the guards) is saying this to Zara (a captive queen).

Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast,
To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.
I've read, that things inanimate have mov'd,
And, as with living Souls, have been inform'd,
By Magick Numbers and persuasive Sound.
What then am I? Am I more senseless grown
Than Trees, or Flint? O force of constant Woe!
'Tis not in Harmony to calm my Griefs.
Anselmo sleeps, and is at Peace; last Night
The silent Tomb receiv'd the good Old King;
He and his Sorrows now are safely lodg'd
Within its cold, but hospitable Bosom.
Why am not I at Peace? [Weeps.]

The play kicks off with another immortal phrase



I wonder why she uses the term "savage breast?" Maybe she's objectifying?

I think that the poem was written when 'breast' had more of a connotation of 'chest,' as opposed to 'boob.' It probably means something more like a metaphorical 'savage heart.'

She's been brainwashed into thinking she's some kind of savage. Maybe this play is much more subtle than you realize? All this before they had CDs and MP3s too!

Zara's a captive queen of course she is going to be pissed. A captive king would be, too. The phrase is meant to belittle her because she is a female head of state. (even though I realize it's not the same sort of state we live in now, still a state of sorts.)

It is interesting to see that Congreve puts the 'savage breast' - that is, the heart of a savage (meaning a native African, for example) - on the same level as rocks or hardened trees, and treats all three as 'inanimate'.

Thus he is saying first, that there is no soul in a savage, and secondly, that even so, music can charm the heart of a savage, because it has a magic power to move inanimate things.

It sheds a light on European attitudes of the time. The implied message is that native Africans and others are no more human than trees and rocks. Oddly enough, many people if asked the source of the saying might attribute it to Shakespeare. I doubt whether Shakespeare, a century earlier, would have entertained such a sentiment.

I've read, that things inanimate have mov'd,
And, as with living Souls, have been inform'd,
By Magick Numbers and persuasive Sound.

These lines refer to the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, who supposedly had the power to charm animals, trees and stones with his lyre and make them move to his will. However, there was nothing in the myth to suggest that Africans or any other group of people were supposed to be on the same level. The magical power was seen in the idea that Orpheus' music could move non-human entities.

I think you may be being hard on Congreave. The earliest use of "savage" related to wild animals: OED

In Congreave's day, when the concept of a soul was accepted, the thing that animals, rocks, trees etc., had in common was that they had no soul. Hence the line "And, as with living Souls, have been inform'd,"

So, ""soothe your savage breast" is clear in its meaning (to those who have heard the idiom) but probably is closer in meaning to "soothes your inner beast" which ties in nicely (though probably coincidentally) with Egmont at #3 above.

We do still use the term "breast" to describe the chest of a bird.

Maybe,they even had coverings for chair and table legs because they might be provocative.

So Robin Red Breast would have been Robin Red Bosom?