FLORES, RANIELLA ALLYSSA B.

BEED3
All the world’s a stage, by William Shakespeare
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.
The famous speech ‘All the world’s a stage’ was first published as part of As You
Like It in the First Folio in 1623. Scholars are unsure when the play was performed
for the first time, but it was likely sometime around 1603. The play is a five-act
pastoral comedy that features a monologue in which Jacques considers the nature of
the world, the roles men and women play, and how one ages, being “All the world’s a
stage”.

This poem talks about life by dividing it into seven stages that all men must go
through. It tells us that the world is a stage on which all of us stand to play a part.
Therefore, we all have a purpose to fulfill and a role to play on the great stage of the
world. Shakespeare draws readers’ attention toward the drama everyone lives
throughout their lives. He is really reducing the life of human beings to a
performance, or an acting role, which might look ridiculous. Simply, he means that all
human beings are players, who play their assigned roles in every day. For instance,
if somebody is a soldier now, he is playing the role Lord has allotted to him. Same is
the case with other professionals. Even several roles are common such, as the role
of a young lover, a haughty middle-aged man, or a great golfer.