ALL THE WORLDS

A STAGE
By
William Shakespeare

The golden age is before us,

not behind us

William Shakespeare

WHO
IS
SHAKESPEARE?
April 26, 1564 baptized in
Stratford-Upon-Avon, England
1582 married Anne Hathaway
1583 first child was born
1585 received twins
1592 began to be known for his
literary career
1594 became established as an
actor and playwright; became
shareholder in Lord Chamberlains
Men.
1595 in his prolific period
(produced many popular writing
such as Romeo and Juliet &
Midsummer Nights Dream)

WILLIAM

1596 his son died

1597 purchased a home in
Stratford
1609/1611 his sonnets were
published
1616 his health declined, left
properties to daughters and wife
April 23, 1616 left the world
1623 First folio of his plays was
published. He produced 38 plays,
154 sonnets and 2 narrative
poems

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
William Shakespeare was an English poet,
playwright and actor, widely regarded as
the greatest writer in the English language
and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He
is often called England's national poet
Shakespeare was well known for
his
sonnets and plays including Hamlet, A
Midsummer Nights Dream and The
Taming of the Shrew

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;
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 lined,
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 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. Last scene
of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere
oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans
everything.

BACKGROUND OF THE
POEM
Taken from Shakespeares play entitled As You Like
It
The character who says these words is known as
Jacques, the melancholic man who wants to compare
the world to a stage and life to a play
Jacques catalogues the seven stages of a man's life,
sometimes referred to as the seven ages of man:
1. The helpless infant 5. The wise judge
2. The whining schoolboy
6. The clueless old man
3. The emotional lover 7. Back to infancy
4. The devoted soldier

ANALYSIS OF THE 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

Shakespeare is
making comparison
between life and the
stage
Every individual plays
different parts in life
which is divided into 7
stages of life.

At first the infant,

Mewling and puking in
the nurse's arms;

Mewling is the small

weak noise that a cat
makes
In life, the first stage
starts from an infant.
Similarly, an infant is
helpless, and gets the
attention by crying and
vomiting in the arms of
the caretaker.

Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel

And shining morning
face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school.

In the second stage of

life, the little baby
grows and starts going
to school.
He carries a small
schoolbag, walking
slowly as to being
reluctant in leaving his
protected environment
(home).
The implication may due
to him having lack of
confidence to exercise
of his own discretion

And then the lover,

Sighing like furnace, with
a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress'
eyebrow.

The third stage of life

describes the transition
from childhood to youth.
At this stage, love is a
dominant emotion.
When a person falls in
love, he is always
prompted with feelings of
tenderness, or nostalgic
and express the feelings
in a silly and pointless
manner.
Thus, he may act
ridiculously to express
his feelings to the lover.

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.

The word soldier is not

only restricted to be in
military.
The fourth stage
explains the initial of
taking a responsibility.
At this stage, it is hard
to deal with the
dedication and
commitment of life, that
makes a person easily
aroused and hotheaded.
Due to the desire to
achieve success, the
attitude could
jeopardize a person.

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.

In the fifth stage, a

human has become
comfortable with what
he has in life (wisdom,
status, power, wealth,
experiences).
Due to this, he
becomes cynical,
conceited, and believes
social status he gained
permits him to act
prudently in passing his
knowledge/experiences
.

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.

At this stage, a person slowly

looses the valuable traits he
possesses (legs, voice, vision,
taut skin, consciousness)
Yet, only his trousers/hose are
fit to wear.
His shrank/legs shrink,
making him more immobile
to explore the world, as
before.
The human voice goes from
the high pitched squeak of a
child to the deeper adult
voice and returns to a child
tone when old - once again
become helpless and need
assistance to meet own
needs.

Last scene of all,

That ends this strange
eventful history,
Is second childishness
and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes,
sans taste, sans
everything.

The last stage describes

the second childhood
return to the state
where a human grew
from.
He experiences selfreversal (lose height,
self-importance, selfesteem, memory, just
like when he was
vulnerable and silly as a
child) and needs to be
taken care of.
Eventually, the senses
(teeth, taste, vision) will
all be gone.

MEANING OF WORDS

Mewling soft cry

Pard leopard
Capon castrated male chicken/cockerel
Saws saying/platitude
Pantaloon tight trousers
Hose tight undergarments (from waist
below)
Shank Knee to ankle (lower part of leg)
Sans without/lacking

LITERARY DEVICE

DEVICE

MEANING

LINES

CAESURA

the pausing or stopping

within a line of poetry
caused by needed
punctuation to
strengthen meaning of
line.

Then the whining

school-boy, with his
satchel
And shining morning
face, creeping like
snail

OXYMORO the use of contradictory

N
terms (together) for
effect.

And all the men

and women merely
players;
They have their
exits and their
entrances

TYPE: A Monologue
It is a monologue
a long speech@poem given by a
character in a story, movie, play,
etc., or by a performer
from a play (As you like it)

ALLITERATION
The use of words that begin with the same
sound near one another.
a world too wide For his shrunk shank;

SIMILE
Comparing something/someone with
something/someone similar
creeping like snail
Sighing like furnace
bearded like the pard

METAPHORS
A word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing
in order to show or suggest that they are similar
Extended metaphor (comparing two unlike things):
All the world's a stage

Comparing life to a play, which has stages or act

They have their exits and their entrances;

Entrance is referring to the birth of a man, while exit refers to

death.
Seeking the bubble reputation, even in the cannons mouth

To achieve something, dare to take the risk/dangerous situation

IMAGERY

Representation of sensory experience through language allows

people to picture in their mind
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut

The imagery of sight is described through the characteristics of

the man to invoke the image of a respectable man.
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

This line is to explain about losing sensory motor and having

wrinkly skin.
The imagery of sound:
And whistles in his sound
Explains inability to utter words properly

SYMBOLISM
Something that stands for something else by reason
of relationship, association, convention, or
accidental resemblance
Capon
Pantaloon
Soldier

Wealth and prosperity for being a mature

man
- As man gets older, he is more easily
deceived.
- Dedicated to do something/full of passion

THEME

CYCLE OF LIFE
When a person is born, he is helpless, needing
the attention and help from other people.
Similarly, when life is going towards the end, a
man needs the same attention as before.

LOVE
In the third stage, the sexual awareness increase.
Thus, regardless of time, people fall in love and
sometimes they get obsessive in their love.

FOOLISHNESS AND FOLLY

Young people are hot-blooded. They do not care
the repercussions of their actions as long as they
can achieve in their goal (chasing reputation).

CROSS REFERENCE

CONCEPT OF KARMA