It is often stated that it is nearly impossible to tell Shakespeare's point of view or to hear his personal voice behind his characters. While I accept this premise, as one reads more of Shakespeare, one feels that one can locate Shakespeare, but I wonder if this is an illusion of perception. Many commentators hypothesize that certain obscure passages are Shakespeare's personal commentary on the play.
Many scholars tend to agree that Hamlet's voice is similar to Shakespeare's voice. Some critics find Shakespeare's voice in the Sonnets, a point I find unconvincing for several reasons.
I stumbled on the dedication to "The Rape of Lucrece", and like his other dedication, I was surprised to find a nicely formal, but somewhat butt-kissy note to the Earl of Southhampton. I won't quote it in full (the text is readily available.) It is a development of, "The gift is small, the thought is all..."
"..Were my worth greater, my duty would show greater, meantime, as it is, it is bound to your lordship, to whom I wish long life still lengthened with all happiness.."
My question is, I am trying to remember where the above is echoed in the plays.