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All Site ContentTaming of the ShrewAct IntroductionScene 2
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“bring our lady hither to our sight”
Cultural Context
Act Introduction,
Scene 2
Lines 66-73

An explanation of Sly’s use of the royal “we” in Introduction 2 of myShakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Sly

Am I a lord, and have I such a lady?
Or do I dream? Or have I dreamed till now?
I do not sleep — I see, I hear, I speak;    
I smell sweet savours and I feel soft things.
Upon my life, I am a lord indeed,
And not a tinker nor Christopher Sly.
Well, bring our lady hither to our sight,    
And once again, a pot o’ th’ smallest ale.

Sly’s really getting into his new status as an aristocrat. He’s already started referring to himself in the third-person-plural. This mannerism is referred to as “the royal we” because only kings employed it. A king believed himself to be God’s appointed ruler on earth, so when he did something, he wasn’t acting alone — he and God were acting together.