Thomas Otway

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Thomas Otway

Thomas Otway (March 3, 1652April 14, 1685) was an English dramatist of the Restoration period.

Quotes[edit]

  • O woman! lovely woman! Nature made thee
    To temper man: we had been brutes without you.
    Angels are painted fair, to look like you:
    There ’s in you all that we believe of heaven,—
    Amazing brightness, purity, and truth,
    Eternal joy, and everlasting love.
  • Dear as the vital warmth that feeds my life;
    Dear as these eyes, that weep in fondness o’er thee.
    • Venice Preserv'd (1682), Act v. Sc. 1. Compare: "Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes; Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart", Thomas Gray, The Bard, part i. stanza 3.
  • What mighty ills have not been done by woman!
    Who was ’t betrayed the Capitol?—A woman!
    Who lost Mark Antony the world?—A woman!
    Who was the cause of a long ten years’ war,
    And laid at last old Troy in ashes?—Woman!
    Destructive, damnable, deceitful woman!
    • The Orphan (1680), Act iii. Sc. 1. Compare: "O woman, woman! when to ill thy mind/ Is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend", Alexander Pope, Homer’s Odyssey, book xi., line 531.
  • Let us embrace, and from this very moment vow an eternal misery together.

External links[edit]