AIl the world's a stage by William Shakespeare
All the world's a stage is a speech that appears in the Shakespeare's play - "As you like it". This poem describes various stages of human life which is compared to a play or drama played by every man and woman on the stage of the world. His seven stages of life are the seven acts of a play. This shows Shakespeare's deep knowledge and transience of human life.
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
I so And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
- William Shakespeare
In these lines the poet compares this world to a stage. All men and women are only actors and actresses on the stage of this world. All these people have different routes to enter this stage and also have different exits to go out. They enter this stage when they are born and leave this stage when they die. Every person, during his life time plays many parts. These parts are called seven ages. These ages are actually like acts of a play.
- 7 Stages of life -
# An Infant crying :
Shakespeare says that each human being performs seven parts in this small drama on the stage of the world. He makes his entry as an infant who is fully dependent upon his mother or a nurse. He is helpless in his mother's arms. He merely pukes in the nurse's arms. This stage ends when the infant grows into a school child.
# A Complaining School boy :
The second stage is his boy-hood. This is his school going period. It is the time when he complains all the time. His face shines like the bright and fresh morning. He carries his school bag and unwillingly goes to school at the speed of an insect.
# A lover :
This is the third stage of man's life. Now he is a grown up person and assumes the form of a lover. It is the time when he loves his beloved ardently. He sighs like a furnace or an oven. He writes a song in praise of his beloved's eye brow. He also sings such songs again and burns in his emotions.
# A bearded Soldier :
In these lines the poet shows the fourth stage of a man's life. When he matures, he becomes a soldier. He takes strange oaths. He has a beard like a tiger or a leopard. He is fierce like these animals. During this stage of life, man is jealous of honour of other. He is very quick-tempered and owns quarrels. Since he is warm-blooded, he looks for temporary reputation and fame. To achieve this temporary fame, he is even ready to go into the mouth of a gun. He does not bother for dangers.
# A wise justice :
Here man becomes middle aged and mature like a judge and has a fair round belly full of the meat of chickens. It is the stage when he is firm, serious and grim. Now he tens into justice, the one who knows what is good and what is right. At this stage, he is perhaps the best person to approach, to find out who is correct and who is wrong. He has a high status in society, yet he is greedy for more. This stage does not remain for long in his life.
# An old man :
This is the sixth stage of man's life. In this stage man shifts from middle age, to old age. He now wears pantaloons with slippers on his feet. He has become thin, weak and lean. He now wears spectacles on his nose because of his weak eyesight. He has also a purse by his side in which he keeps money and tobacco. He uses long socks which he has saved during his youth. Now these socks are very loose for his lean legs and look strange. His big loud manly voice has turned into the shrill voice of a child. Since, some of his teeth have fallen, whenever he tries to speak it seems as if he is whistling.
# Second Childhood :
This is the last stage of man's life. In this stage he changes from his old age to the oldest one. This is a strange stage of life. In this period all the life which has been previously full of strange events comes to an end. Man becomes child once again. This is like his second childhood. In this stage he is childish as well as childlike. At this stage he forgets almost everything. His memory becomes very weak. He loses teeth, eye sight and taste. He is without everything. This is the stage in which he completes the drama of his life and leaves the stage of this world for the next...
CONCLUSION
Life is a drama, the world is a stage and we human beings are actors. The theme hints at the greatest irony in the lives of human beings. Shakespeare here has masterfully described the stages of a human's life.
Word - Meaning :
- Mewling : making a weak crying sound
- Puking : vomiting
- Whining : an unpleasant sound
- Creeping : to move slowly
- Satchel : (here) School bag
- Sighing : to take & then let out a long deep breath
- Woeful : very bad or serious
- Ballad : a poem or song that has a story
- Pard : (here) leopard
- Capon : a male chicken
- Saws : short sentences that give advice
- Pantaloon : tight trousers fastened at the foot
- Hose : pants that fit tightly over the legs
- Shank : the part of a person's leg between the knee and the ankle (calf muscles)
- Treble : a child's high voice
- Oblivion : a state in which a person is unaware of what is happening around her/him (forgetfulness)
- Sans : without (french word)
Poetic devices used in this poem :
The poet has used a narrative form to express his innermost emotions about how he thinks that the world is a stage and all the people living in it are mere players or characters. These characters go through seven different phases in their lives..
There are two major poetic devices used in this poem - simile and metaphor.
- Metaphor : The speaker of the poem is metaphorically compares a human beings life to that of an actor on a stage.
- Simile : 'creeping like a snail' ; 'bearded like the pard'; etc. The entire poem itself is more like symbolism; men and women are portrayed as players whereas life is portrayed as the stage.
- Repetition is another figure of speech used in this poem; words like sans, age, etc. are repeated.
FAQs :
Q. What title of the poem says ?
Ans- The world is a stage for human beings, where they play their different roles of life. like the characters that play their role on stage.
Q. What are the seven stages of life according to the poem ?
Ans- Seven stages of life are-
- An infant crying
- A complaining School boy
- A lover
- A bearded Soldier
- A wise justice
- An old man
- Second Childhood
Q. Why does the schoolboy walk at a snail's pace? Is he not happy?
Ans- The schoolboy walks at a snail's pace to delay the school as he doesn't want to go to his school.
Q. What does the lover do?
Ans- The lover sings ballads for his mistress.
Q. What makes the soldier quick in quarrel'?
Ans- Youthful energy, fierce passion, hot blooded.
Q. How does a man play his part as 'the justice'?
Ans- The man gaining enough knowledge, wisdom.
MCQs :
1. The poet compares this world with stage and the humans as the players he divides human life into___________ stages.
(a): Five
(b): Seven
(c): Ten
(d): Four
Ans- Seven (b)
2. ______ is the second stage of human life.
(a): Baby
(b): Experienced
(c): Adventures
(d): Childhood
Ans- Childhood (d)
3. The poem is composed by
(a): William Shakespeare
(b): P.B Shelley
(c): John Milton
(d): William Wordsworth
Ans- William Shakespeare (a)
4. In the sixth stage in the poem 'The Seven Ages of Man ' a person become __________ .
(a): Victorious
(b): Powerful
(c): Weak
(d): Healthy
Ans- Weak (c)
5. Shakespeare has described the second childishness in the ___________ .
(a): Second stage
(b): Fourth stage
(c): Last stage
(d): Fifth stage
Ans- Last stage (c)
6. As a young lover, according to the poet, man
(a): Learns to dance
(b): Composes ballads for his beloved
(c): Does exercises to build his muscles
(d): Gives advice
Ans- Composes ballads for his beloved (b)
7. Bubble reputation means-
(a): Everlasting fame
(b): Long -term popularity
(c): A short lived, transitory period of fame
(d): Bubbles formed in rain
Ans- A short lived, transitory period of fame (c)
8. “Sighing like a furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrows.” What is the figure of speech in the first line?
(a): Simile
(b): Metaphor
(c): Personification
(d): Repetition
Ans- Simile (a)
9. The title of the poem is a comparison of life to a____.
(a): Game
(b): Drama
(c): Cycle
(d): Dream
Ans- Drama (b)
10. The poem compares "exit" to___.
(a): Birth
(b): Life
(c): Doors
(d): Death
Ans- Death (d)
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