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Literary notes about oath (AI summary)

The word "oath" has long served as a powerful literary device to signify a binding promise, often imbuing the moment with a sense of solemnity and unyielding commitment. In many works it is employed to enforce loyalty or to mark the deep emotional, legal, or political bonds between characters, as seen when characters are compelled to declare adherence to a particular pledge [1][2]. Often, an oath confers both authority and gravity on a character’s words, whether in the form of a sacred covenant in religious texts [3][4] or in the dramatic, personal affirmations found in epic and poetic narratives [5][6]. At times its usage can also inject a moment of levity or irony into dialogue, lending color to the character’s language without diminishing the weight of the commitment [7][8]. Overall, the varied application of the term across genres highlights its enduring role as a marker of trust and integrity within literature [9][10].
  1. He also threatened him so terribly, that he compelled him to take all oath that he would obey.
    — from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus
  2. On the road the president thought he saw the general make an attempt to remove the handkerchief, and reminded him of his oath.
    — from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet
  3. And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant, 26:29.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  4. The synteresis proposeth the question; his word, oath, promise, is to be religiously kept, although to his enemy, and that by the law of nature.
    — from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
  5. "So was his will Pronounced among the gods, and by an oath, That shook heav'n's whole circumference, confirm'd." "Paradise Lost" ii. 351.
    — from The Iliad by Homer
  6. This oath I willingly take, and will perform.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  7. careful now, and remember you are under oath.
    — from The Wit and Humor of America, Volume X (of X)
  8. 'May they so?' exclaimed the first ruffian, with a tremendous oath—'What!
    — from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe
  9. Ere we had gone a mile beyond it I could well-nigh have taken my oath that this whole gloomy passage was a dream.
    — from Mosses from an old manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  10. It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.
    — from Familiar QuotationsA Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced toTheir Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature

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