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.
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.

                             – William Shakespeare

GLOSSARY

capon (n.): body flesh
furnace (n.): a device for heating
hose (n.): tights, thin trousers that men wore in Shakespeare’s time
mewling (v.): crying weakly with a soft, high-pitched sound
oaths (n.): promises
oblivion (n.): a state of nothingness
pantaloon (n.): trousers worn in former times
pard (n.): a leopard
puking (v.): vomiting
sans (prep.): without, lacking
satchel (n.): a shoulder bag for school
shank (n.): a part of a person’s leg
treble (adj.): high-pitched
whining (v.): uttering a high-pitched cry
woeful (adj.): sorrowful

Summary plus Interpretation of the Poem

The poem “All the World’s a Stage” by William Shakespeare presents seven stages of human life: infant, school going boy, lover/husband, soldier/fighter, justice/ability to understand the right and wrong, lean pantaloon (growing weakness), and old age. Mainly written in blank verse this poem shows that a person is the ultimate loser in the game of life.

Shakespeare, who is the greatest English dramatist of all times, likens human beings to characters of a drama performed in the world which is a stage. The divine hand or the fate is the director, while the events of human life are simply scripted.  One only performs the role assigned to one. This drama of human life has altogether seven acts, each act representing each stage.

The first stage is the infant who suckles its mother’s milk and keeps mewling and puking in its nurse’s arms. The second stage is the whining schoolboy, who unwillingly goes to school carrying his school bag. The third stage is the lover or young husband who writes love poems for his beloved. The fourth stage is a soldier who takes oaths of various kinds and is brave, quick-tempered and fights for honour. The fifth stage is justice, who wears a formal appearance and is full of wisdom. The sixth stage is lean pantaloon, who grows weak as the days pass and becomes more like a child. The seventh or last stage is old-age, which Shakespeare calls second childishness, for the person without the bodily strength and proper senses becomes as helpless as a child again. This final stage ends with the death of the person.

Use of Metaphor in the Poem

Metaphor is a literary device which makes direct comparison between two things without using the words like ‘like’ or ‘as’. The famous lines “All the world’s a stage /
And all the men and women merely players” is a good example of metaphor. When Shakespeare says all the world is a stage and all the men and women are merely players, he is using metaphor by making direct comparison between the world and the stage.