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"By all the vows"
Humor
Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 168b-178

An explanation of Hermia’s humorous reference to vows in Act 1, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Hermia

                                            My good Lysander,
I swear to thee by Cupid's strongest bow,
By his best arrow with the golden head,
By the simplicity of Venus' doves,
By that which knitteth souls and prospers loves,
And by that fire which burned the Carthage queen
When the false Trojan under sail was seen,
By all the vows that ever men have broke –
(In number more than ever women spoke) –
In that same place thou hast appointed me
Tomorrow truly will I meet with thee.

Even in Shakespeare's time young men were stereotypically depicted as making extravagant vows of love in order to get a woman into bed — only to break that vow once the woman had given in. Hermia jokingly swears by these broken vows which she says outnumber all the vows women have ever made.