All the World's a Stage | Class 11| English

All the World’s A Stage by William Shakespeare

A Note Compilled by

Dipendra Shrestha (Lecturere of English at HSM)

About the Poet

§ William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and one of the world's greatest dramatists.

§ He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard").

§ His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays,154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship.

§ His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. They also continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

§ Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men.

§ At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later.

§ Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.

§ Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613.

§ His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best work produced in these genres.

§ He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language.

§ In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.

About the Poem

‘All the world’s a stage’ is a monologue from Act II Scene VII of Shakespeare’s play As You Like It.

The speaker, Jacques, begins ‘all the world’s a stage’ by asserting that life is like a stage on which “men and women merely” play roles. They play different parts throughout their lives, as the speaker is now. In the bulk of this monologue, the speaker spends time going through the seven stages of life. One starts in infancy, moves through childhood, and into the best part of their life when they’re a lover, soldier, and judge. Later, they lose control of their senses and eventually can’t take care of themselves.

The Seven Ages of Man in ‘As You Like It’

The seven stages of life, as described by Jacques in As You Like It are:

Infant (lines 5-6)
School-going boy (lines 7-9)
Lover (lines 9-11)
Soldier (lines 11-15)
Justice/judge (lines 15-19)
Comfortable old age (lines 19-25)
Helplessness/return to childhood (lines 25-28)

Meaning of All the World’s a Stage

On its most basic level, Shakespeare uses the monologue from Act II Scene VII of As You Like It to compare life to a stage. His speaker, Jacques, is suggesting that life is a stage, and men and women are players who take on different roles throughout their lives. The concept comes, in part, from medieval philosophy.

Tone and Mood

In’ All the world’s a stage’ Shakespeare creates a somber and depressing mood through the simple breakdown of life, success, love, and death. The beauties of life are compiled into a short monologue that’s over almost as soon as it began. With this, the reader is left to consider their own life and what “stage” they’re in now. The speaker knows that this is the way the world is, everyone listening to his words is all going to end up back where they started as children and there’s no way to change that fact.

Structure and Form

‘All the world’s a stage’ is an excerpt from William Shakespeare’s well-loved play, As You Like It. Specifically, it is a monologue that can be found in Act II Scene VII. The monologue is twenty-eight lines long and is in part written in blank verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter. This means that the lines do not rhyme, but they do (at some points) contain five sets of two beats, the first of which is unstressed and the second of which is stressed.

It is also important to consider how a performer might’ve used the stage to their advantage when performing these lines and the impact that formal elements like enjambment and alliteration would’ve had on the audience’s understanding of the speech.

Literary Devices

Shakespeare makes use of several literary devices in ‘All the World’s A Stage.’ Some are:

Simile: ‘creeping like a snail’; ‘soldier… bearded like the pard’; etc.
Metaphor: the entire poem itself is more like symbolism; men and women are portrayed as players whereas life is portrayed as the stage.
Repetition: another figure of speech used in this poem; words like sans, age, etc. are repeated.

Detailed Analysis

Lines 1-6

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;

In the first lines of ‘All the world’s a stage,’ the speaker, Jacques, begins with the famed/ well-known lines that later came to denote this entire speech. He declares that “all the world’s a stage” and that the people living in it are “merely players.” This sets up what is one of the most skilled conceits in all of English literature. Every person, no matter who they are, where they were born, or what they want to do with their lives, wakes up every day with a role. They enter, they exit, just like performers. It’s important to note at this point that these lines would be read on stage in front of an audience. The extended metaphor would not be lost on anyone listening/watching. The actor is declaring to the audience that “you” are just as much of an actor as he is.

The Globe Theatre in London where As You Like It would’ve been performed in the early 1600s.

Before the listener starts to get concerned about the role they have to play, Jacques adds that a “man,” (or woman) plays many different parts in their lives, as an actor does. Whoever the actor may be on stage is not only “Jacques” he’s also many other characters throughout his career. It’s in the fifth line of the monologue that Shakespeare brings in a slightly more complex concept, that of the “seven ages” of humankind. The first of these is the “infant.”

Lines 7-18

And then the whining school-boy, 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 lin’d,

With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,

Full of wise saws and modern instances;

As the poem progresses, Jacque continues to describe how someone ages, the roles they play, and what everyone is like, generally, at different times in their lives. One will at some point be a “whining school-boy” and a “lover / Sighing like furnace.” There will be sorrows, ballads, and losses. One will become “a soldier” and take oaths of allegiance while seeking out a fight. This is one of the more difficult stages in one’s life and if drafted, not one that someone could ignore.

The man’s youth has given way to a full beard like a “pard,” or leopard. In these lines, there is also an interesting metaphor comparing a human/animal blowing a bubble with its mouth to staring down a cannon that might fire at any moment. Finally, this metaphorical person becomes “the justice,” or magistrate, someone with a steadier knowledge of what’s right and wrong. They have “Wise saws,” or wise sayings and “modern instances,” or arguments for legal cases.

Lines 19-28

And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose, well sav’d, 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.

In the sixth stage of the man’s life, he moves into the “pantaloon” or comfortable clothes worn by old men. His youthful clothes are too loose because he’s lost weight with age. He’s also lost his deep voice. It reverted back to something that’s closer to what he had in one of the earlier stages of his life.

The last stage of a man’s life is his “second childishness and mere oblivion.” This is when he loses control of everything that made him an adult. Now, he’s helpless and dependent on others, as he was when he was a child. He is “sans,” or without, “taste,” “eyes,” and “teeth.” The final image is the man without “everything.” His life, all its intricate memories, and details, are lost.

Summary

The poet compares the world to a stage in a theater and men and women to players. Each player has his/her exit and entrance. Similarly, men and women enter the world on birth and exit from it on death. They come to this stage, play their different roles and bid good-bye. These parts, acts or stages are normally seven.

The birth of a child is the first act of the drama of human life. The human baby cries and vomits in the nurse’s arms. Soon he starts going to school. He has a shining face and carries a bag of books. He goes to school unwillingly, creeping like a snail. This is the second act of his life. The third role that he plays is of a lover. The young lover sighs like a furnace and sings some mournful songs praising the beauty of his beloved.

The fourth stage is that of a soldier. He sports a beard like that of a leopard. He is quick-tempered in matters of honor. He seeks reputation even at the risk of his life. He is not afraid of death and danger while fighting for reputation. However, his reputation is short-lived. It is hollow like a bubble.

Then comes the middle age. The fifth stage is that of a judge. He is fat with a round and fleshy stomach as a result of eating chickens. He has a beard of formal cut. His eyes are now harsh-looking. He becomes strict in his behavior. He uses many sayings and modern instances to support his arguments of wisdom.

The sixth age takes a person to old age. Man becomes weak in health and thin in body. He wears slippers, spectacles and clothes of his youth. These clothes are now too loose for his shrunk and thin legs. His voice becomes unmanly. He pipes and whistles. He lisps like a child as he is toothless. He looks a comic figure.

The last role is that of an extremely old person. This ‘act’ shows him as helpless as a baby. He is toothless, hard of hearing, weak in eyesight and forgetful. In fact he loses control over all his senses. He departs from this world after playing these roles of life.

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a. Why does the poet compare the world with a stage?

The poet compares the world with a stage because he thinks that all men and women behave like the performers. They enter the stage with their birth, perform different roles throughout their life and exit with their death.
b. What is the first stage in a human’s life? In what sense can it be a troubling stage?

The first stage in a human’s life is infancy. It can be a troubling stage in the sense that a child cries and vomits in the arms of the caretaker.
c. Describe the second stage of life based on the poem.

The second stage of life is school going boy. He carries his bag and unwillingly goes to school as slowly as a snail. He doesn't like going to school since he is not used to with the new environment. He cries loudly and complains all the time. His face is like shinning morning.

d. Why is the last stage called second childhood?

The last stage is called second childhood because he loses everything t this stage. He is fully dependent upon others like a child. He has no teeth, no taste and no memory. In fact, he behaves like a child.
e. In what sense are we the players in the world stage?

We are the players in the world stage as in the sense that we enter the world stage when we get birth and leave it when we die like the actors do on the stage in a theater.

Reference to the context

d. Simile and metaphor are the two major poetic devices used in this poem. Explain citing examples of each.

Simile and metaphors are the figures of speech used in the poem. Simile refer to the direct comparison of two dissimilar things using ‘as’ or ‘like’, whereas metaphor refers to the indirect comparison without using ‘as’ or ‘like’.

In the lines ‘All the worlds’ a stage’, ‘all the men and women merely players, metaphors have been used. In other words, Shakespeare compares the world to a stage in a theater and all the men and women to actors who perform on the stage. The third metaphor is used when ‘reputation’ is compared to bubble to show that reputation is momentary. Another metaphor is in the line ‘manly voice to childish treble’. The final metaphor is found in the line ‘that ends this strange eventful history’. Human life is compared to the strange eventful history as human life is full of events and incidents, and early memories.

The first simile is used when a school boy is compared to a snail. He unwillingly walks to school as slow as a snail. Another simile is in the line ‘sighing like furnace’. The heat of the furnace is compared to the passion felt by the lover. By using simile, a soldier stage of human life is compared to a leopard, which means the soldier is quick, prompt and fast as the leopard.

e. Which style does the poet use to express his emotions about how he thinks that the world is a stage and all the people living in it are mere players?

The poet uses a narrative style 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. It is written in the blank verse which has no rhymes. The narrator recounts the story of life. He compares human life to a stage and all the people to actors. These people go through seven different phases in their lives. He has explained the real aspects of human life for all readers to understand the reality of life.

f. What is the theme of the poem?

In ‘All the world’s a stage’ Shakespeare discusses the futility of humanity’s place in the world. He explores themes of time, aging, memory, and the purpose of life . The speaker suggests that life is a stage, and men and women are players who take on different roles throughout their lives. Everyone is simply a player in a larger game that they have no control over. Man is the ultimate loser in this game of life. He comes empty-handed here and leaves this stage empty-handed. He brings nothing and takes nothing.

Shakespeare takes the reader through the stages of life, starting with infancy and childhood and ending up with an old man who’s been a lover, a soldier, and a judge. The “man” dies after reverting back to a state that’s close to childhood and infancy.

Search This Blog

SAFE Online School