All The World’s A Stage by William Shakespeare (NEB XI)

 All The World’s A Stage by William Shakespeare

Bio of the Poet: William Shakespeare 1564-1616, was an English poet, and dramatist actor and often considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. His most famous works include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth. He was baptized on April 26, 1964, in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. Between 1585-1592, he was an important member of a company of stage actors called Lord Chamberlain’s Men.

Synopsis:  This poem is taken from William Shakespeare's play As You Like It.  With these words “all the world’s a stage” begins the monologue by the character Melancholy Jacques in Act II Scene VI of the play. The poet has compared life with the 7 stages of a person’s life infant, school-going boy, lover/husband,  soldier/fighter,  justice/ ability to understand right and wrong, Pantalone (greediness and high in status), and old age. They can come into our minds when we go through this poem with the theme that a person is an ultimate loser in the game of life. Hence, this poem is that man is the ultimate loser in the game of life. According to Shakespeare, the world is a stage and everyone is a player. He says that every man has seven stages during his lifetime. He performs different seven roles in his lifetime and finally exits from this worldly stage.

All the World’s a stage,

And all the men and women are merely players;

They have their exit and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages.

Historical Context: This sonnet is from his famous play “As You Like It” which 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/shortness of human life. In Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It, Rosalind and Celia encounter some memorable characters in the Forest of Arden. Jacques, the melancholy traveler, is the most notable of them all. He speaks many famous speeches such as “too much of a good thing,” “A fool! A fool! I met a fool in the forest”, and “All the world’s a stage”. Jacques’ monologue is an echo of the motto of the new Globe Theatre which was opened in the summer of 1599. The motto was “Tutus mundus gait histrionem”, meaning “all the Globe’s a stage.” The play was written in the same year.

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 is spoken by the melancholy Jacques. 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.

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 going to end up back where they started as children and there’s no way to change that fact.

Explanation: 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 lifetime, plays many parts. These parts are called seven ages. These ages are actually like acts of a play.

The first stage is the infant: At first, the infant is Mewling(crying weakly with a soft, high-pitched sound) and puking(vomiting) in the nurse’s arms.

Shakespeare says that each human being performs seven parts in this small drama on the stage of the world. He makes his entry as a baby who is fully dependent upon others. This stage ends when the infant grows into a school child. Children during the first few years of life. A weak crying sound is vomiting.

2^nd stage, School Going Boy:

Then the whining (quarreling) school-boy, With his satchel(schoolbag),

And shining morning face, Creeping like a snail, Unwillingly to school.

The second stage is his boyhood. This is his school-going period. It is the time when he complains all the time. His face shines like a bright and fresh morning. He carries his school bag and unwillingly goes to school at the speed of an insect. An unpleasant sound To move slowly School bag.

3^rd Stage, A Lover/husband:

And then the lover,

sighing like a furnace, With a woeful ballad

 Made to his mistress’s eyebrow.

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 passionately. He sighs (complaints) like a furnace(a device for heating). He writes a song in praise of his beloved’s eyebrow. He also sings such songs again and burns in his emotions. To take & then let out a long deep breath badly or seriously.

4^th Stage, A Soldier/Fighter:

Then a soldier,

Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,

Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,

Seeking the bubble reputation.

Even in the cannon's (gun’s) mouth.

In these lines, the poet shows the fourth stage of a man’s life. When he matures, he becomes a soldier because the then time, all males needed to be a soldier to protect their motherland. 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 the honor of others. He is very quick-tempered and owns quarrels. Since he is warm-blooded, he looks for a 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 with danger. Leopard is Very bad or serious.

5^th Stage, justice/ ability to understand right and wrong:

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;

And so he plays his part.

The fifth role is of a middle-aged man. He has a round belly. He cites modern instances like plain eyes with a French cut beard, has the wit of all.

6^th Stage, Pantalone (greediness and high in status):

The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slippered pantaloon (trousers),

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk(contracted) shank (ankle), and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound.

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 Trunk Child’s high voice

7^th Stage, old age:

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 this last stage, the man changes from his old age to the end of life which becomes a feeble stage too. In this period all the life which has been previously full of strange events comes to an end. Man becomes a child once again & is like his second childhood. In this stage, he is childish as well as childlike due to forgetfulness & very weak memory. He loses teeth, eyesight, 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. That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything Forgetfulness Without - French word. In this stage, he changes from his old age to the oldest one. This is the stage in which he completes the drama of his life and leaves the stage of this world for the next. Finally, Life is drama, the world is a stage and we human beings are actors. The theme hints at the greatest irony in the lives of humans. Shakespeare over here has masterfully described the stages of human life. The use of imagery and of acting and stage is a recurrent one in Shakespeare.

Literary Devices:

Simile: A simile is a comparison between two unlike things that uses the words “like” or “as”. ‘creeping like a snail”; “soldier… bearded like the pard”; etc.

Metaphor: A metaphor is used to describe an object, person, situation, or, action in a way that helps a reader understand it, without using "like" or "as". The entire speech itself is more like symbolism; men and women are portrayed as players whereas life is portrayed as the stage. Shakespeare uses the “stage” as an extended metaphor.

Repetition: Repetition is an important poetic technique that sees writers reuse words, phrases, images, or structures multiple times within a poem. Another figure of speech used in this monologue; words like sans, age, etc. are repeated for the sake of emphasis.

Anaphora: Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of multiple lines, usually in succession. It is used in the eighth and ninth lines, beginning with the word “And”.

Synecdoche: Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a “part" of something is used to represent its “whole.”  “Made to his mistress’ eyebrow”; “And then the justice”; etc.

Alliteration: Alliteration is a technique that makes use of repeated sounds at the beginning of multiple words, grouped together. It is used in poetry and prose. “his shrunk shank”; “quick in quarrel”; etc.

Onomatopoeia: An onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the natural sound of a thing. “pipes / And whistles in his sound”

Asyndeton: Asyndeton is a figure of speech that occurs when words like “and” and “or” (coordinating conjunctions) are removed from sentences. “Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

 INTERPRETATION: The theme of this poem, All the world’s a stage is that a person is the ultimate loser of his life, But why that? After going through different stages and going through all the struggles, why is a person still considered a loser? According to the poem, our life is a stage and a person lives their life in seven different stages. They start as a crying infant and are forced to leave the world as an old miserable man. Elaborating, a person makes an entry on this worldly stage. They play different roles throughout their life. Playing the role of an infant, a school-going boy, and entering adult life they play the role of a lover, a soldier, a judge, Pantalone, and then old-age. And in all these stages they face their own struggles and get past these struggles as they thrive to make their life better. But in the end, what do they get? Nothing, all their struggles for nothing. They leave empty-handed. So, maybe Shakespeare is right and we are all nothing but losers.

Furthermore, the roles they play were metaphors played by someone else before and will be played by someone later. And this is exactly why Shakespeare uses the metaphor “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players” to describe our temporary place in the world. Similarly, he has used a metaphor, “Seeking the bubble reputation” to describe the feelings of a soldier. The stage in our life where we work the hardest and are constantly in search of that fame. In the sixth stage of life, a once strong and fearless person starts giving in to his age toward his second childhood to describe this state of a person, the poet used the metaphoric line, “His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide; For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice; Turning again toward childish treble”. Also, to describe the image of a school-going, the simile “And shining morning face, creeping like a snail” was used. And to describe the courageous and valorous character of a soldier, the poet has compared him to a leopard stating, “Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard”.

Critical Thinking:  Have we ever thought deeply about this poem's Title? It states all the world is like the “theater” where all the performers of acts and plays are executed. You must be wondering why is this world i.e. life in this poem's title considered as a lay going on in a theater. It's simply because of 3 reasons namely “ Like a play or an act has a definite starting and ending scene same does our life which has got definite starting i.e. birth and a definite ending i.e. death. Unlike whatever different circumstances occur in between, ultimately there is a defined fixed ending.” Next, “Like a play or an act as it has got certain phases (i.e parts) and same does our life which is mentioned as 7 different phases or stages in the poem,” and the third “Like a play or an act as it has got certain actors same does our life which is where we all persons are like the actors of the play playing all the scripts which will surely end like in a play when we face death.

What is this whole life where we are born in a tiny part of this huge world like a small fish in a huge ocean? What’s the objective for us to be born and exist? Why are we gonna die and why does our life have an end? Our life already has a lot of boundaries within these seven phases of our lives as the poet has mentioned. Now, let's not make this Insecurity life shorter by "Thinking how others will think about me if I do this," or "What will society think about me?" And let us not suppress our desires which are meant to be fulfilled in our life. Thus, in this whole dilemma of what life is "let's live our lives to the fullest” where there is happiness in every breath we take and where there are no fears, anxiety and insecurities that compels us into thinking “How will people judge us?” Which is the stage in which one is the most happiest? Yeah, now most of you probably guessed the “Infant Stage”. In this stage, people don't suppress their desires or emotions. Let me list out what’s more in this that makes infancy the happiest stage even though it is regarded as the problematic stage but has Zero Stress, Zero Responsibilities, Zero Pre-Programmed thoughts, Zero fear, Insecurity, and, anxiety,

Did you know that we have got a second childhood in our life?

It is our Last stage (Old Age).This is the stage where we are free from all the pressure, anxieties, and insecurities like a kid and we are happiest of all like a child where everything is settled and you just focus on your inner self.

ASSIMILATION: How can we relate the poem to our life? Is life just about birth and death?

Well, for me life is so much more than just my birth and demise. Our life is given a meaning by the choices we make. In the poem, life has been divided into7 stages each stage having an impact on our life. As an infant we get to start our lives. We get attached to our family members in this stage who look after us. We cannot expect ourselves to connect with the people during that stage of our lives. Gradually we grow up learning about the language, culture let’s and society. The second stage is described as the stage of a school-going boy, during which we get separated from the people we are mentally and emotionally so attached to to go to our schools. So it becomes pretty much clear that we all shed tears while we went to school for the first time. We learn, we fail and we stand up on our feet once again as most of our time passes by at school.

During the stage of a school going boy, we go through various changes. Well, let’s just say we go through puberty. We go through physical and mental changes which eventually lead us to be called an “adult”. We make choices for ourselves. The choices aren’t necessarily always great as we think. Soon enough, we enter the third stage of our lives. We choose the person we love. This is the stage where we choose to start a family with the person with whom we are willing to spend the rest of our lives. We make choices that create a better future at this stage. Now, we move on to the stage of a soldier. A soldier fights for the protection, reputation and protection of the nation. Similarly, a man puts all of his efforts so making better choices for his family so that his children could be proud of where they belong. Now off we go to the fifth stage of our life, the stage of the judge. A person has grown in every form of our life. Making mistakes and making up for them and making sure his children don’t repeat the same mistakes. He has learned from his faulty decisions and is now capable of making light decisions. “Every moment is an experience.” Now this is the sixth stage of life. The person grows old. He cherishes his old memories and time flies by and they meet the end of their life. He passes away. So let me ask you something, Was life just about being born, existing, and waiting for death to fall upon us? Well, in my opinion, it was definitely not that. My whole life was about making choices, learning from them, and moving on to a better future.

a. Who said, “All the world’s a stage?”: Shakespeare's pastoral comedy As You Like It contains the speech "All the world's a stage" by the melancholic Jacques in Act 2, Scene 7, Line 139.

b. What is the central theme of ‘All the world’s a stage’?: Shakespeare outlines the phases that are seen in a man's lifespan in his description of life and its seven stages, which serve as the monologue's main focus.

c. Why does Shakespeare call the world a “stage?”: Shakespeare claims that the "world" is comparable to a "theatre." The stage is still in place. The only people who change over time are the performers and actresses; once the curtain comes down, they have played their roles and are gone. The stage is left deserted. It makes room for a new play, which might begin the following day or the day after. Humans are similar to artists. Throughout our lives, we play the parts of someone's parents, lovers, life partners, or grandparents. When the time comes, the sidewalk will be the only place we can go to avoid dying a leaden death.

d. What message does ‘All the world’s a stage’ convey?: Shakespeare conveys the idea of life's transience through this monologue. He also emphasizes how fast our lives play come to an end and how oddly eventful lives come to an end.

e. Why is the last stage called “second childishness?”: The phrase "second childishness" describes the aging process of the mind. Shakespeare referred to the final stage of a man's life as the "second childishness" because of its traits of juvenile judgment and behavior.

f. What does “Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything” mean?: The preposition "sans" is frequently employed in literary works; it indicates "without or in the absence of anything" and gives a humorous flavor to the line where it appears. The repeat of "sans" or the use of paleography in this sentence underlines the meaninglessness of the final phase of a person's life, which is "simple oblivion."

g. What does “Sighing like a furnace” mean?: A man in his youth is motivated by the carnal/fleshy urges that feed his heart, and it ignites the burning need for love there. The lover's sigh is likened to the exhausts of a furnace. The heart sighs like a furnace when the flame of a woman's rejection blows it out; the heat of passion is still present, but the flame of deeply felt emotions is put out.