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The Royal "We"
Historical Allusion
Act 2,
Scene 2
Lines 2-4

An explanation of the royalty's use of "we" in Act 2, Scene 2 of myshakespeare's Hamlet.

Claudius

Moreover that we much did long to see you,
The need we have to use you did provoke
Our hasty sending. Something have you heard

As we have seen earlier in the play, Claudius continues to refer to himself in the first person plural (e.g. I, we, our) to reinforce the belief that, as a divinely chosen ruler, he is acting for himself and God.