ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE - WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

ALL THE WORLD’S A  STAGE  -  WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

     William Shakespeare’s “All The World’s a Stage” is a poem extracted from his play “As You Like It”. In this poem Shakespeare has skillfully divided and described human life into seven stages from infancy to old age. He compares the world with a big stage in which all the human beings play their allotted roles according to their time limit.

The Infant Stage

     In the first stage, as an infant he cries and vomits in the nurse’s arms.

The School Boy

     In the second stage, he begins his schooling. He is unwilling to leave the protected environment of his home, so he goes to school like a snail.

The Lover

     In the third stage, as a young man, he composes his love poems. In this stage, he expresses his love in a fatuous manner. He makes himself ridiculous in trying to express his feelings.

The Soldier

     In the fourth stage, he is hot – blooded with a high degree of self-respect. To get fame he endangers his life. At this stage, he does not know that fame and honor is nothing more than a bubble and short lived.

The Justice

    In the fifth stage, he assumes himself that he has acquired wisdom through his experiences. He has round belly with good capon lined.

The Pantaloon

     In the sixth stage, he is a shell of his former self both physically and mentally. He tries to shrink himself into a shell of his worries and is indifferent to his physical appearance and apparel, just as he was in his youth.

The Old Age

     In the last stage, he is highly dependent on others for care. He is unable to interact with the world. He has no relations. His voice is not clear due to loss of teeth. He loses his firmness and assertiveness. He experiences second innocence and mere oblivion. This stage is also known as second infancy.

     This poem shows Shakespeare’s deep knowledge and transience of human life