All the World’s a Stage: William Shakespeare

 

About the poem

 

The words “All the world’s a stage” are actually taken from William Shakespeare’s play “As You Like It”. With these words begins the monologue by a character in Act II of the play. Shakespeare has been a great playwright and poet of his era. He views life realistically. He is known for the realism of his writings and is amongst the most quotable authors in the world. The poem’s theme is that man is the ultimate loser in the game of life.

Summary

The poet says “all the world’s a stage and “all the men and women merely its players”. Every player plays seven roles during his life. 

The first stage is that of an infant when he is helpless in his mother’s arms. He merely pukes in the nurse’s arms.

In the second role, he is a child who goes “creeping like a snail unwillingly to school”. He is innocent. He is not willing to learn. He wants freedom. For learning, he must lose his childish liberty. We may notice that man keeps on losing one quality and blessing while qualifying for another one.

The third stage brings before us the lover who sings woeful ballads addressed to his beloved. In the youthful age when the man is full of energy and might, he does everything to please his beloved. Even this shift of life, filled with merrymaking and joyous songs, passes so quickly as well.

Soldier, the fourth stage arrives swiftly; here man seeks fame though it is temporary and short-lived. He endangers his life for it. Man is not hesitant to take risks for pride.

The fifth role is of a middle-aged man. He has a round belly. He cites modern instances. In sixth age, man becomes very weak. He keeps pouch with him. He wears warm hoses. Man’s ankle has shrunk. “His big manly voice is turning again towards childish treble”. His voice is not clear due to loss of teeth.

In the last stage, the condition of man becomes very miserable. Now he has grown very old and weak. He has lost all his relations. At this stage, man feels that life is nothing except sheer loss for him though he may boast of success and achievements of the past. Shakespeare wishes to make us realize that the short life we spend in this world is not worth it if we have a close observation of it. Life is nothing more than a shadow.

 

 

Understanding the text

 

Answer the following questions.

a. Why does the poet compare the world with a stage?

The poet compares the world with a stage because he thinks,  all men and women are like the actors of a play. The actors play their roles in the journey of life and depart one day.

b. What is the first stage in a human's life? In what sense can it be a troubling stage?

The first stage in a human's life is the stage of infanthood. This is a troubling stage in the sense that the infant is fully under the care and the protection of its mother. The infant often cries and vomits in the mother's arms.

c. Describe the second stage of life-based on the poem.

The second stage of life is the stage of boyhood. In this stage, the boy is a school-going student. He slings his bag over his shoulder with his shining face and creeps to school unwillingly like a snail.

d. Why is the last stage called second childhood?

The last stage is called second childhood because in this stage man loses his senses of sight, hearing, smell, and taste. He acts like a child and finally exits from the roles of his life.

e. In what sense are we the players in the world stage?

We are the players on the world stage in the sense that we perform various roles in the journey of life. According to the poet, we play seven roles in our lifetime and finally depart from this world stage.

Reference to the context

 

a. Explain the following lines:

All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players

The above lines are taken from William Shakespeare’s poem ‘All the World’s a Stage’ where he compares the world with a stage and men and women as actors. After birth, in the journey of life, they play various roles, and ultimately, one day they depart from this world's existence.

b. Explain the following lines briefly with reference to the context.

They have their exits and their entrances; 

And one man in his time plays many parts,

The above lines are taken from William Shakespeare’s poem ‘All the World’s a Stage’ where the poet says that the people in the world have their entrances (birth) and exits (death). With birth, they begin their journey of life and finally they exit from worldly life with death. According to the poet, a man after birth plays a set of roles in his lifetime.

 

c. Read the given lines and answer the questions that follow.

Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail

Unwillingly to school.

i. Which stage of life is being referred to here by the poet?

The stage of life is referred to here is childhood.

ii. Which figure of speech has been employed in the second line?

The figure of speech employed in the second line is a simile where the reluctant child is compared with a snail.

iii. Who is compared to the snail?

The school-going boy is compared to the snail.

iv. Does the boy go to the school willingly?

No, the boy doesn't go to the school willingly. His unwillingness can easily be understood as he takes a snail’s pace to school..

d. Simile and metaphor are the two major poetic devices used in this poem. Explain citing examples of each.

The poet has used simile and metaphor time and again. A few examples of them given hereunder:

a) "All the world's a stage" - Metaphor

b) "And all the men and women merely players" - Metaphor

c) "And shining morning face, creeping like a snail" - Simile

d) "Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard," - Simile

e) "Seeking the bubble reputation" - Metaphor

f) "His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide" - Metaphor.

g) "and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble" - Metaphor.

e. Which style does the poet use to express his emotions about how he thinks that the world is a stage and all the people living in it are mere players?

The poet uses a narrative style to speak out his emotions about the physical world and the people who live in it.  The world is just like a stage in a play and people are like actors who play various roles. According to the poet, men play seven different roles in their lifetime.

f. What is the theme of this poem?

In its thematic essence, the poem asserts man is the ultimate loser in the game of life. A person makes an entry into this worldly stage and performs different roles in his lifetime. Finally, he departs the worldly stage. He entries empty-handed here and leaves this stage empty-handed. He brings nothing and takes nothing.

Reference beyond the text

 

a. Describe the various stages of human life picturised in the poem "All the world's a stage."

According to Shakespeare, the world is a stage and everyone is a player. Man plays seven roles during his lifetime and ultimately departs from the world. The first stage of man is childhood when he vomits, cries, and plays in his mother’s arm. In his second stage, he is hesitating to go to school. He becomes a lover in his third stage worried for his beloved and addressing her through ballads. In the next stage, he is aggressive, ambitious, and seeking a bubble reputation. He is ready to stand guard for his mother country. In his fifth stage, he converts into a mature and sensible judge full of wise sayings and wisdom. In the sixth stage, he is seen with loose pantaloons and spectacles. His manly voice changes into a childish treble. The last stage of all is his second childhood. Soon, he is without sight, hearing, smell, and taste and exits from the roles of his life at his death. 

b. Is Shakespeare's comparison of human's life with a drama stage apt? How?

Yes, Shakespeare's comparison of a human's life with a drama stage is appropriate. He compares the world with a stage where men and women are only players. In a drama, every player enters the stage, acts his/her part, and then exits. In the same way, we enter this world by birth, play various roles and finally depart from the world at death.