All the World’s a Stage
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 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, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
Meanings of All the World’s a Stage
These lines are taken from the play by William Shakespeare, As You Like It. Jacques counts seven stages of man’s life to declare that this world is a stage and man is its actor who has to play several roles during his lifetime. This is the main idea of these lines.
Meanings of 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;
The speaker of these lines is Jacques, a Character in As You Like It by William Shakespeare. He ruminates over his life and states that the world seems to him a stage where all other men and women are just players. They have their own exits and entrances like actors. Even a single man plays the role of various characters. Jacques has counted these as seven roles, among which the first one is of an infant who mewls and pucks in the arms of his/her nurse or mother. These lines discuss the main idea, which is the roles of man in his life.
Meanings of Lines 6-14
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
Jacques presents the second role of the man. He states that this is the role of a school-going boy who weeps and cries with his satchel on his shoulder. His face is shining, but he is unwilling to go to school. Even when he leaves his house for school, he goes at a snail’s pace. When he grows up a bit, he becomes a lover and sighs in the love of his beloved like a furnace. He writes sad ballads in praise of the eyebrows of his mistress. When he passes this stage, he becomes a soldier and takes strange oaths related to the security of his country. He grows his beard like a leopard and is very jealous of his honor. He takes up quarrels to fight anybody, which he claims is for the honor that is like a bubble and can disappear at any time. This means that he becomes highly touchy when he thinks that his honor is at stake. This means that man has three important stages, from a schoolboy to a lover and from a lover to a soldier. These lines show the partial theme of the roles a man plays in his life.
Meanings of Lines 15-21
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;
Jacques further states that the role of a soldier is highly amazing as the soldier is ready to go into the mouth of a cannon to win the honor. And that honor is like a bubble, or it is transient in nature. After this role, he becomes a judge who grows his belly larger than it actually is, and his capon is lined. He looks severe with his formal cut to his beard. He quotes several quotations and modern examples of different things. After playing this part, he becomes a lean man with narrow pants, spectacles, and a pouch for keeping things. These two roles add to the main theme of the seven stages in the life of man.
Meanings of Lines 21-28
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.
Jacques says that the youthful trousers that he keeps safe shrink with the shrinking of the legs. His manly voice becomes shrill, like that of a child’s. It seems he is piping and whistling. This shifts to the last scene, which is the end stage. It is full of history and is akin to second childishness. It is mere oblivion in that a man has no teeth, no eyes, no taste, and nothing. This is the end of life and the end of the seventh stage. These lines complete the main idea, which is the world is a stage and every man and woman is merely a player.
Summary of All the World’s a Stage
- Popularity of “All the World’s a Stage”: Written by William Shakespeare, a phenomenal English poet, and playwright, “All the World’s a Stage” is a superb composition. It was first published as part of As You Like It in the First Folio in 1623. The verses beautifully compare life to a stage where every man and woman has to perform specific roles before they exit. The speaker skillfully breaks down man’s life into seven ages to show how we spend time on earth. The popularity of the verses lies in the way it impressively paints reality.
- “All the World’s a Stage “As a Representative of Truth: These verses are about how human beings go through various phases of life before death. The verses begin when the speaker compares this world to a stage where men and women are players. They are bound to play certain roles, and their acts are divided into seven distinct stages. At first, one appears as an infant crying softly in the nurse’s arm. Slowly, he creeps into the next stage, childhood, where he appears as a whining schoolboy, unwilling to accept the changes in life. The third act takes him to a stage where he appears as a dejected lover who loves to compose songs and ballads. After playing the lover’s role, he becomes an ambitious soldier full of hopes and dreams. The sixth stage makes him quit fancy dreams. In this stage, he becomes a judge, having a mature outlook and thoughtful ideas. Eventually, his role as a judge also ends, leading him to another stage where he loses control of his mind and body. Thus, he becomes vulnerable and weak before death once again.
- Major Themes in “All the World’s a Stage”: Life versus death, man’s role in the universe, and the reality of life are the major themes of these verses. They bring the story of our life in front of our eyes. By comparing the world to a stage and people to actors, Shakespeare shows how every human being has to go through the same stages before death. Although they encounter different challenges at every stage, the experiences will most likely be the same. These verses also present life as a constantly changing game and man as the ultimate loser of this game. The writer skilfully projects every stage of man’s life with a detailed description of each stage to highlight man’s controlled role in this game of life. Through this simple text, Shakespeare conveys a profound message that no one has the power to alter the law of nature.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in All the World’s a Stage
literary devices are modes that represent the writer’s ideas, feelings, and emotions. It is through these devices the writers make their few words appealing to the readers. Shakespeare has used some literary devices in this poem, whose analysis is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “That ends this strange eventful history” and the sound of /o/ in “His youthful hose, well sav’d, a world too wide.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /s/ and /t/ in “Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t/ in “They have their exits and their entrances” and the sound of /n/ in “And shining morning face, creeping like snail.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
“And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,”
- Irony: Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. This an ironic poem that explains the seven stages of man’s life in an ironic way.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. William Shakespeare used imagery in this poem such as “And all the men and women merely players;”, “And shining morning face, creeping like snail” and “Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel.”
- Onomatopoeia: It refers to the words which imitate the natural sounds of things. The poet used this device toward the end of the poem where it is stated; “pipes/And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all.”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem uses symbols such as aging, happiness, sorrow, life, and death.
- Simile: It is a device Used to compare something with something else to make the meanings clear to the readers. Shakespeare uses this device at many places in the poem, such as “And shining morning face, creeping like snail” and “Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in All the World’s a Stage
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: The poem shows descriptive diction having rhetorical devices, symbolism, and impressive images.
- Blank Verse: Blank verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme yet uses iambic pentameter. These verses are in blank verse poetry.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are apt to quote while referring to old age and its impacts.
“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.”
