BSc BA ADP English Notes Poem All the World is a Stage (William Shakespeare) Reference Context Explanation

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Poem:

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.
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 a 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;
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, sane eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

William Shakespeare:

William Shakespeare was born at Stratford-on-Avon in 1564 and died in 1616. He is undoubtedly the greatest English dramatist and poet. He began writing at an early age and had established a reputation for himself by acting and writing plays. His early works include the poems " Venus and Adonis" (1593) and the "The Rape of Lucrece" (1594). The controversial sonnets: "To the dark lady: appeared in 1609. He acted in Ben Jonson's "Every Man in his Humour" and probably played the part of the Ghost in his own "Hamlet". The 18th century did not think much of Shakespeare as a dramatist, and his plays were adapted and changed to suit the taste of the age. However, the 19th century saw a reaction in his favour and modern critics agree that he is the world's greatest dramatist: his knowledge on men and women is unequalled. Not only does he give us magnificent poetry, but also a profound insight into human nature.

Idea of Poem:

Shakespeare over here has masterfully described the stages of human life. The use of acting ans stage is a recurrent one in Shakespeare, not only because he was a dramatist, but also he was himself an actor. He compares the world to a stage and all human beings to actors enacting their allotted roles. The deeper meaning is that of the transience of life and brief span of importance or fame that we as actors enjoy and "then are heard no more" (Macbeth). The poet has divided life int seven stages spanning infancy to old age. Shakespeare profound knowledge of human life and acute observation can be seen here. The use of the word "mewling" for the infant cry is a wonderful stroke, and "creeping like a snail" is more than accurate descriptions of the reluctance school-going children. The last stage of a man's life evokes feeling of pathos--all youthful passion spent, all ambition gone, and man reduced to a mere shadow of himself, sinking into oblivion.

Words                 Meaning

Mewling              Crying feebly

Puking                 Throwing up; to vomit

Whining               Complaining

Satchel                 Small bag as for school

Saws                    Proverbs

Oblivion              Forgetfulness

Sans                     Without(French Word)

Reference: 

These lines have been taken from the poem “All the World is a Stage” written by William Shakespeare.

Context: 

This sonnet of Shakespeare is from his famous play “As You Like It”. This poem describes various stages of human life. Life has been 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.

Explanation:

Lines 1 – 5 

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.

Lines 5 – 10 

The first stage of a man's life is his infancy. During his infancy he cries and throws up milk and vomits when he is in the hands of a mother or a nurse. 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.

Lines 10 – 12 

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 or brow. He also sings such songs again and again as he burns in his emotions.

Lines 12 – 16 

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.

Lines 16 – 20 

This is the fifth stage of man's life. Here man becomes middle aged and mature like a judge and has a fair round belly full of the meat of chickens. Perhaps, he has become fit because he eats meat and fat castrated cocks in excess. It is the stage when he is firm, serious and grim. His conversation is full of many different proverbs of the world of the past and is also full of the examples from the modern age. He has beard of formal cut and as such plays this part of life.

Lines 20 – 26 

This is the sixth stage of man's life. In this stage man shifts from middle age, to old age. Now he wears pantaloon with slippers on his feet. He has become thin, weak and lean. He wears now spectacles on his nose because of his weak eye-sight. 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 to his lean leg 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. Its seems as if he were playing upon a pipe or as if he were whistling.

Lines 27 – 29 

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.

Written By: Asad Hussain