The Seven Ages of Man
The Seven Ages of Man
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 schoolboy, 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 honor, 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 (from As You Like It)
EXERCISE
Read the following stanzas given below and answer the questions that follow each :
1. 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 muny parts,
His acts being seven ages.
Questions.
(i) Why does the poet call this world a huge theatre?
(ii) Why do the poet call men and women merely players?
(iii) Identify the figure of speech, ‘All the world’s a stage’.
(iv) Name all the stages mentioned here.
Answers.
(i) Poet call this world huge theatre because men and women who are born in this world
play different roles assigned to them by destiny and God is the spectator of this drama performed by them.
(ii)The poet calls men and women merely players because they do not choose their roles
themselves. They are merely puppets in the hands of God. Their roles are allotted to
them and they can not oppose their roles.
(iii) Figure of speech ‘metaphor’.
(iv)The poet has mentioned seven stages-infant, school-going boy, lover, soldier, judge, the
man of age and the dotage of old age.
2. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms
And then,the whinning school boy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creaking like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like a furnace; with woeful ballad
Made to his mistress eyebrow.
Questions.
(i) What are the activities of a sucking baby?
(ii) Why does a child not what to go to school?
(iii) How does a child go to school?
(iv) When does a lover feel dejected?
Answers:
(i) A sucking-baby weeps, cries, sobs and vomits. It plays in nurse’s arms.
(ii) A child wants to play more and more, so he/she shows his/her unwillingness to go to
school.
(iii) While going to school, a child is dressed very well. His face shows brightness. He bears
the burden of bag on his shoulder and goes to school with slow steps.
(iv) A lover feels dejected when his beloved shows indifferent attitude for him.
3. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the par
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the Cannon’s mouth,
Questions.
(i) Why does a soldier take strange oaths?
(ii) What is the appearance of a soldier?
(iii) Which thing is very dear to the soldier?
(iv) What is the chief aim of soldier’s life?
Answers:
(i) While accepting the commission in Army, a soldier takes many oaths indifferent languages.
He swears to show the feelings of patriotism, honour and dedication for his nation.He
swears that he would defend his country at the cost of his life.
(ii) A Soldier, due to remaining far from his house for a long time, has a rough and shabby
appearance. He keeps dense and rough beard and moustache.
(iii) A Soldier is very fond of (UPBoardSolutions.com) his honour. He is always ready to defend it. Whenever it comes
to his notice that his honour is being attacked or even fingered at in the least, he becomes
ready to pick up a quarrel.
(iv) The chief aim of soldier’s life is to gain name and fame which, very short-lived, is all in all
to him and for which he is ever ready to risk his life.
4. And then, the Justice,
In fair round belly with good copon lined,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut
Full of wise saws, and modern instances;
And so he plays his part.
Questions.
(i) What sort of life does a judge likes to lead?
(ii) Why does a judge wear the expression of harshness?
(iii) What sort of beard does the judge keep?
(iv) How does a judge convince by his speech?
Answers:
(i) A judge is fond of leading a life luxurious and Comforts.
(ii) A judge outwardly wears the expression of harshness and strictness because he tries to show himself an embodiment of discipline in order to impress everyone.
(iii) A judge keeps beard which is neatly trimmed after conventional pattern.
(iv) By using many wise maxims and common place illustrations, in his speech, a judge convinces.
5. The sirth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper’d 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 towards 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.
Questions.
(i) What happens with a man of age in the sixth stage?
(ii) How does a man look like in the sixth stage?
(iii) How does the voice of the old man change?
(iv) Why is the last stage called the second childhood?
Answers:
(i) In the sixth stage, man loses all his charms of his youth. He becomes lean and thin. His eyesight grows weak and he cannot see properly. He loses all his strength of youth. His manly voice also changes. His hands and fingers tremble while doing some work. His legs cannot endure the burden of the body. In this way he becomes invalid in every way.
(ii) In the sixth stage, the man of age becomes a lean comic figure because he wears slippers, spectacles and a pouch (bag).
(iii) His once such loud manly voice now shrink into the shrill voice of a child, having mumbling and squeaking sounds.
(iv) The last stage is also called second childhood because all the memory of the past is lost
and all the senses decay and the man then becomes almost nothing-without teeth, without eyes and without taste.
(A) SOLVED QUESTION OF TEXT BOOK
Answer the following questions :
Question 1.
Explain the difference poet makes between the performance made by actors at normal stage and worldly stage?
Answer:
Poet has describe this world to a stage. But there is a difference. In the ordinary stage (drama), an actor plays one role but here in life stage (drama) he has to play many roles. These are described in seven stages.
Question 2.
What is the second stage played by man?
Answer:
In the second stage, he (man) is in the role of the mischievous and unwilling school-boy who goes to school, with his bag, creeping (UPBoardSolutions.com) slowly and reluctantly.
Question 3.
How does a lover tempts his mistress?
Answer:
He (lover) plays a role of a youthful lover passionately sighing deep as the blast of furnace and composes tragic verses to the eye of his beloved.
Question 4.
For what do the words ‘good copon lined’ stand? Good copon lines (fattened cocks received as presents).
Answer:
In words ‘good copon lines’ some crities have read an allusion to the prevalence of Corruption in Elizabethan times. The custom of offering chicken to the magistrates as a tip was common.
(B) APPRECIATING THE POEM
Question 1.
Write down the central idea of the poem.
Answer:
This world may be compared to a stage and men and women to the actors who have to play their parts in drama. Jaques’ speech about the seven stages of a man’s life is too famous to require any mention here. The world to him is a stage nothing more. Men and women are merely players with their exits and their entrances mechanically regulated movement in anephemeral pageant. The life of a man, as he pictures it, reproduces the condition of the imaginary state of nature. The dramatic function of this maxim is that it serves as a cue for Jaques to launch into his great set piece ‘All the World’s a Stage’ exactly as a casual line can be cue for a song in a musical comedy. Ingeniously Jaques lines one great common place-the world as a theatre, life as a play with another notion familiar to historians of ideas, the Seven Ages of Man. Man at each stage is anatomised. So we can divide the drama of a man’s life in seven Acts. The come on and go off the stage in his life-time everyman plays different parts.
Question 2.
Name the poet of the poem.
Answer:
The name of the poet of the poem is William Shakespeare.
Question 3.
Find out rhyming words in the poem.
Answer:
men-women,
whining-morning,
face-furnace,
side-wide, all rhymes with each other.