The Mourning Bride

Frontispiece of The Mourning Bride published in 1703
1757 costume drawing for Zara in The Mourning Bride

The Mourning Bride is a tragedy written by English playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1697 at Betterton's Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. The play centers on Zara, a queen held captive by Manuel, King of Granada, and a web of love and deception which results in the mistaken murder of Manuel who is in disguise, and Zara's also mistaken suicide in response.